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President Garfield 

B-^ 

REV. ISAAC ERRETT, EX-GOV. C. K. DAVIS 

PROF. SWING, RABBI LILIENTHAL 

DR. TALMAGE, JOHN G. WHITTIER, 

PRESIDENT HINSDALE, Lord Bishop of Montreal 

HON. J. H. RHODES. REV. T. K. NOBLE, 

HENRY WATTERSON, T. FREEMAN CLARKE, 

HENRY WARD BEECHER, JUDGE REA, 

ROBERT COLLYER, SENATOR VOORHEES, 

HON. EMERY A. STORRS, BISHOP CLARKSON, 

HON. R. M. MATHEWS, EX-GOV. OGLESBY, 

CHAS. T. BUCK, HON. ROGER A. PRYOR, 

AND MANY OTHERS. 



J": 



EDITED BY 

Is^coi_itj:e=le. 



CHICAGO: 
RHODES i<t McCLURE, PUBLISHERS, 

1881. 




THE WORLD'S EULOGIES 

ON 

PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

(1) 




H?fki>::4J«^ 



GEN. JAMES A. GARFIELD. 

[Born Nov. 19, 1831-Died Sept. 19, 1881.] 




MRS. JA^IES A. GARFIELD. 







GEN. GARFIELD'S FORMER RESIDENCE AT HIRAM, OHIO. 




MARY. JAMES. IIAIIRY. IRWIN. 

GENERAL GAEFIELD'S CHILDREN. 



ABKAM 



THE WORLD'S EULOGIES 



ON 



PRESIDENT GARFIELD, 



— BIT — 



REV. ISAAC ERRETT, EX-GOV. C. K. DAVIS, 

PROF. SWING, RABBI LILIENTHAL, 

BR. TALMAGE, JOHN G. WHITTIER, 

PRESIDENT HINSDALE, LORD BISHOP OF MONTREAL, 

HON J. H. RHODES, REV. T. K. NOBLE, 

HENRY WATT^RSON, JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE, 

HENRY WARD BEECHER, JUDGE RE A, 

ROBERT COLLYER, SENATOR VORHEES, 

HON EMERY A. STORRS, BISHOP CLARKSON, 
HON. R. M. MATHEWS, EX-GOV. OGLESBY, 

CHAS. T. BUCK, HON. ROGER A. PRYOR, 

AND IVTANY OTHERS. 



EDITED BY 

J. B. MCCLURE. 



CHICAGO: 

RHODES & McCLURE, PUBLISHERS, 

1881. 



Chicago Legal News Ccmpamv, 



CopvflioHT. Khodes & McClure, j . Stebeotypers a Printers. 



. M /Z t 




The reader will find in this volume some of the most 
eloquent and pathetic words that have ever fallen from the 
lips of man, called forth by the life and death of one whose 
career, from the cabin to the White House, forms the 
brightest pages in human history. Life's grandest lessons, 
its highest aspirations, holiest love, noblest ambition, man- 
ifold duties, patient labors and fullest rewards, are exhaust- 
ively portrayed, by orators the most eminent, as they gaze 
upon the colossal iigure. In this one single life the whole 
world seems beckoned to a higher oivilization. Says AVat- 
terson: "To-day, for the first time in fifty, aye, in sixty 
years, the people of the United States are one with one 
another, and stand hand in hand and heart to heart." " In 
the scenes of these few days," says Swing, " we must mark 
some signs of a more sensitive brotherhood;" and the elo- 
quent Storrs, in his eulogy, declares that " Never since we 
have been a people — indeed, since this world has had a his- 
tory — has there been a mourning so universal, a grief so 

(8) 






PREFACE. 9 

deep and so profoandly sincere." And the basis of all is 
touchingly told in another eulogy, where a little child, see- 
ing the mourning emblems on every side in its native vil- 
lage, said, in all the sincerity of its heart: 

"Mamma, is there somebody dead in everybody's house 
to-day?" 

" No, dear," said the mother, " there is not some one 
dead in everybody's house to-day, but everybody has lost a 
friend." 

Tlie eulogies in this volume have been pronounced by 
the best orators of the day, upon one of the grandest 
themes of the age — a perfect man — which necessarily called 
forth the best possible effort. For eloquence, pathos and 
general instruction — so far as we may learn from the exam- 
ple of an upright man — they are as unparalleled in the his- 
tory of literature as is the great " Memorial Day," with 
its three hundred millions of sorrowing hearts, unparalleled 
in the history of human sympathy. 

J. B. McClurb. 
€hicaqo, Oct. 10, 1881. 




A GRAND LIFE AND ITS GREAT LESSONS. 

REV. ISAAC ERRETT, CINCINNATI. 

The Funeral Address at the Pavilion, in Cleveland — Time of unpar- 
alled Mourning — Why do we Mourn? — A Thrilling Incident — 
Virtue and its Rewards — A Rounded Life — The Great Lesson — 
Truth the Eternal Foundation— The Mother— The Wife— The 
Chndien — The Divine Benedictions, ....*. 



PAGE 



17 



A COLOSSAL FIGURE. 

PROF. SWING, CHICAGO. 

Human Greatness and Sorrow — Young Garfield and Liberty — Les- 
sons for the Young — Man's Dignity and Greatness — Signs of a 
Higher CivUization — Garfield's Religion— Garfield and Lincoln — 
The White Pages of History, . . . . . . .30 

MIGHTIER DEAD THAN LIVING. 

DR. T. DE WITT TALMAGE, BROOKLYN. 

Sampson, the Hercules of Greece — Garfield's Remarkable Death — 
Shalcing Hands across the Palpitating Heart — Valuable Lessons 
for All — The Limits of Science and Sympathy — Mrs. Garfield's 
Heroism — Eloquent Peroration, 41 

GARFIELD'S GREATNESS OF NATURE. 

PRESIDENT HINSDAIiE, HIRAM COLLEGE. 

An Unparalleled History — Garfield's Many-sidedness — Young Gar- 



field at Hiram — Garfield's Simplicity — Gai-field's Last Letter to 
President Hmsdale — The Noble Wife — A Mystery, 



51 



GARFIELD'S BEAUTIFUL LIFE. 

HON. J. H. RHODES, CLEVELAND. 

Garfield at Hiram — In the Class-room — How He Learned — Bom in 
the Right Age — Pleasing Incidents — Love of Poetry — Stopping 
the Carriage on the Old Bridge, ....... 58 

(10) 



CONTENTS. 11 

THE NATION'S FRIEND. 

HENRY WATTER80N, LOUISVILLE. PAGE 

Heart to Heart — Every Inch a Man — A Blow that Missed the State 
and Struck the Man — Watterson Loved Him — Personal Reminis- 
cences — We Stand on Common Ground — Saluting the Star-Span- 
gled Banner — " God Reigns and the Government Still Lives," . 63 

' THE CROWN OF MARTYRDOM. 

REN. HENRY WARD BEECHER, BROOKLYN. 
(In Peekskill.) 
A World in Mourning— Garfield's Birth-gifts— The Conflict Ended — 
Four Conspicuous Names, 69^ 

GARFIELD'S GREATNESS. 

BEV. HENEY WARD BEECHER, BROOKLYN. 
(In Brooklyn.) 
The Prayer — Shortness of Life — The Lion and the Lamb — The Fu- 
neral March — Comfort in Sorrow — Unity of Mankind — Instruc- 
tive Lessons — A Word on Guiteau — The Sorrowful Family Group, 73 

COMFORT IN SORROW. 

ROBERT COLLYER, D.D., NEW YORK. 

The President is Dead — The Shining Portals — A Shadow over the 
Day — Hard to Submit to the Doom — Garfield's Love for his Coun- 
try and Family— Kissing his Mother — The Tokens of Sympathy 
— Waiting and Watching 80" 

OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 

HON. EMERY A. 8TORR8, CHICAGO. 

Unparalleled Sorrow — Universal Brotherhood of Humanity — Garfield 
Made the Whole Circuit of American Life — A Record Pure and 
Spotless — The School-boy and the Teacher — The Preacher and the 
Soldier — Meeting Garfield During the Campaign — Meeting Him 
at Mentor — Anecdotes — Meeting Him at the White House — In- 
teresting Incidents — Garfield Without an Enemy — His Firmness 
—The Friend of All— Standing by the Open Grave— The Past is 
Secure — His Memory is Ours, 83- 

GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 

HON. R. STOCKETT MATHEWS — BALTIMORE. 

Picturesque Phases in Garfield's Life— An Inspiration— A Hero— 
The Genius of Free Institutions— The Long Distance Between 
the Tow-path and the Executive Mansion— Twenty Years— The 



12 CONTENTS. 

PAQI 

Coronation — Firing the Temple of Ephesus — James A. Garfield 
the Most Perfect Man of the Century— Meeting him Eighteen 
Years Ago in Monument Square — Meeting him a Few Days 
Before the Assassination — The Christian Politician — Christian 
Statesman — The Dying Hero, 97 

IN MEMORIAM. 

CHARLES F. BUCK, ESQ. — NEW ORLEANS. 

A Bright Morning — A Great Nation — Garfield's Election — His In- 
auguration — His Martyrdom — A Review of his Life — Extract 
from Garfield's Speech to Restore Jefferson Davis to the Right 
of Citizenship — On the Greenback Question — His Personal Char- 
acteristics — His Domestic Life, 114 

THE MAN OF HIS TIME. 

PHILLIPS BROOKS, D.D. — BOSTON. 

Days that Stand Apart in History— A Common Grief— A Half Cen- 
tury of Noble Life — Garfield in War— His Fidelity to the Right— 
Garfield a Philosopher — His Love for Literature — His Love for 
Jesus Christ— A Word to the Young, 127 

A NATION MOURNS. 

EX-GOV. C. K. DAVIS — ST. PAUL. 

The Trappings of Woe — A Leading Statesman — A Pratical Man — 
A Noble Ambition — Garfield's Imagination — His Scholarship — 
An Incident in the Chicago Convention — The Duty of the Hour 
—The Three Martyred Presidents— The Halls of History— The 
Lesson we Must Learn to Live — Warning Words, . . . 138 

GARFIELD'S DOMESTIC LIFE. 

REV. L. W. BRIGHAM — LA CUOSSE. 

Garfield's Home Life— His Good Mothei— Mrs. Garfield's Wifely 
Devotion — Scene at the Inauguration — Full Realization of a 
Mother's Hopes — Garfield's Tender Affection — His Remark on the 
Fatal Morning: "I Should Rather Die than that She Should 
Have a Relapse, " 141 

A PICTURE. 

HON. JOHN H. CRAIG SAN FRANCISCO. 

Looking Across the Intervening Space — States Bowed in Reverence 
— The Eloquence of Grief — The Dearest Name in History — Look- 



CONTENTS. la 

PAGE 

ing at the Picture — A Glimpse at Garfield's Family Life — A Rep- 
resentative Man, . 145 

GARFIELD'S LEGACY. 

RABBI LILIENTHAL — CINCINNATI. 

The Divine Poem— The Coffin-Pulpit— " God Reigns, and the Gov- 
ernment at Washington Still Lives " — American Aspiration and 
Success — Fortitude in Suffering, . . .... 149' 

THE TYPICAL AMERICAN. 

PROP. SHATTUCK — GREELEY. 

Garfield's Boyhood — On the Farm — Swinging the Ax — " I will go 
Through College " — Gai-field's Remaiks on Williams' Old Log 
Cabin and Mark Hopkins — His Kindness of Heart — Incidents 
lUustrathig the Greatness of the Man — His Moral Courage — 
Studying the Good of the Republic, 154 

TRUE TO HIMSELF— FALSE TO NONE. 

HON. R. P. PETTIBONE — BURLINGTON. 

Garfield Followed his Convictions — What we Love him For — A Vis- 
ion of the Past — Garfield's Devotion to his Wife — Graphic Pic- 
ture of a Scene in the Chicago Convention —On the Bed of 
Suffering — The Nation his Memorial, . . . . . 160' 

THE HOUSEHOLD STORY. 

CHANCEY M. DEPEW — NEW YORK. 

The Wickedest Crime of the Centur}-— G;irfield the Highest Type of 
Manhood — His Life a Great Incentive to the Young — Salutary . 
Influence of Garfield's Death — The North and South Rise from 
Bended Knees to Embrace — The Queen, 166 

A MAN FOR THE PEOPLE. 

REV. T. K. NOBLE — SAN FRANCISCO. 

An Army Chaplain to his Comrades— A Grand Life— Garfield 's Re- 
ligion — A Happy Home, 169' 

A LIFE THAT SHINES. 

JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE, D.D. — BOSTON. 

Garfield Side by Side with Washington and Lincoln — The World- 
wide Sorrow— Loyalty to the Government, .... 17& 



U CONTENTS. 

THE IMMORTAL NAME. . 

JtTDGE JOHN P. REA — MINNEAPOLIS. PAOK 

The Sad Requiem — A Tribute Laid Upon a Fresh-made Grave — Hu- 
man Love, • . . 180 

THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD. 

SENATOR VOORHEE8 — INDIANA. 

Every Nation a Mourner — Meeting: Garfield on the Political Field — 
Personal Character — Intellectual Abilities — Incidents, . . 184 

AN UNPARALLELED SPECTACLE. 

REV. G. H. WELLS — MONTREAL. 

We Share the Grief — Growing Intercourse — Garfield, the Boy — The 
Man — The President — Not Ashamed of his Religion — Domestic 
Life — Love for Mankind, 189 

LESSONS FOR THE YOUNG. 

BISHOP CLARK80N — IOWA. 

Among all the Wonders of History this Hour Stands Alone — A Great 
Example — The Victor}' — Honest Manhood — Earth's Highest Civic 
Honors, 201 

LINCOLN AND GARFIELD. 
EX-GO V. OGLESBY — ILLINOIS — (Delivered in Leadville, Col.) 
A Nation's Sorrow— Two Great and Good Men — Lincoln and Garfield 
— Both in the Affections of all Lovers of Liberty Throughout the 
World 205 

GARFIELD, THE CHRISTIAN. 

REV. J. W. INGRAM— OMAHA. 

Influence of His Life — The Christian Statesman — At Home in Men- 
tor—His Faith— Example, . 212 

THE FUNCTIONS OF GREAT MEN. 

REV. DR. RANKIN,' WASHINGTON. 

Garfield Grew into Greatness— His Power Never Degenerated— A 
Loving Heart 21t 

WHY WE MOURN. 

N. R. HARPER, ESQ., LOUISVILLE. 

How the Colored People in Louisville, Ky., Observed the " Memorial 
Day"— Garfield a Tried Friend, 221 



CONTENTS. 15 

WE ALL MOURN. 

CAPTAIN HENRY JACKSON, ATLANTA. ^AGK 

Twenty Tears Ago — Resolutions by the CcBur de Leon Commandery 
— Garfield a Knight Templar, ....... 225 

THE PERFECT MAN. 

ELDER J. Z. TAYLOR, KANSAS CITY. 

Grandeur of a Great Life — From the Tow-path to the Presidential 
Chair — Garfield Never Missed from his Place of Worship in 
Washington — How he Sang "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name," 
when leaving Mentor, 229 

THE LAMENTED PRESIDENT. 

HON. ROGEK A. PRYOR, BROOKLYN. 

A Melancholy Pleasure — An Unclouded Promise — Tokens of ^ Union 
of Hearts 232 

IN, LONDON. 
MINISTER Lowell's address in exeter hall. 
A Pai-adox — Womanly Devotedness — The Queen — The Death Scene 
Unexampled — Joseph and Garfield — Destiny of the American 
Republic, 233 

PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO GEN. GARFIELD. 

John G. Whittier — Lord Bishop of Montreal— Dr. Franklin Noble — 
Dr. H. A. Edson— Gen. Sibley— Rev. J. P. Bo;lfish, . . .237 

A PUPILSTRIBUTE. 

BY U. F. UDELL, ST. LOUIS. 

Interesting Incidents by one of Garfield's Scholars in Hiram College, 247 

A WISE MAN. 

BY DR. 8PR0LE, DETROIT. 

Preliminary Statement — A Man Present who has Attended all the 
Funerals of the Presidents, including that of Washington — Duf- 
field's Poem 250 

IN CONCLUSION. 
Garfield's Poem on Memory, 258 




^j^-"- y m^- jT iii^ T ^^'^'V'^'jr. ''■flQ^^^CP 



" Oh ! sir, there are times in the history of men and na- 
tions when they stand so near the veil that separates mor- 
tals and immortals, time from eternity, and men from their 
God, that they can almost hear the beating and feel the 
pulsations of the Infinite. Through such a time has this 
2iation passed. When two hundred and fifty thousand 
brave spirits passed from the field of honor through that 
thin veil to the presence of God, and when at last its part- 
ing folds admitted that martyred President to the company 
of the dead heroes of the Republic, the Nation stood so 
near the veil that the whispers of God were heard by the 
children of men." — President Garfield, on the occasion of 
the assassination of his illustrious predecessor, Ahra}uiirh 
Lvncoln. 

(16) 



THE WORLD'S EULOGIES 



ON 



PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



A GRAND LIFE AND ITS GREAT LESSONS. 



By Rev. ISAAC ERRETT, of Cincinnati. 



FUNERAL ADDRESS, 

DELIVERED AT THE PAVILION IN CLEVELAND, SEPTEMBER 26, 1881, IN THE 
"PRESENCE OF 250,000 PEOPLE. 

UNPAKALLELED MOURNING. 

This is a time of mourning that has no parallel in the 
history of the world. Death is constantly occurring, and 
every day and every hour, and almost every moment, some 
life expires, and somewhere there are broken hearts and 
desolate homes. But we have learned to accept the una- 
voidable, and we pause a moment and drop a tear, and away 
again to the excitement and ambitions, and forget it all. 
Sometimes a life is called for that plunges a large commu- 
nity in mourning, and sometimes whole nations mourn the 
loss of a king, or a wise statesman, or an eminent sage, or 
a great philosopher, or a philanthropist, or a martyr who 
2 (17) 



18 A GRAND LIFE 

has laid his life on the altar of truth, and won for himself 
an envious immortality amonoj the sons of men. But there 
was never a mourning in all the world like unto this mourn- 
ing. I am not speaking extravagantly wlien I say — for I 
am told it is the result of calculations carefully made from 
such data as are in possession — that certainly not less than 
300,000,000 of the human race share inthe sadness, and 
lamentations, and sorrow, and mourning that belong to 
this occasion here to-day. It is a chill shadow of a fearful 
calamity that has extended itself into every home in all 
this land, and into every heart, and that has projected itself 
over vast seas and oceans into distant lands, and awakened 
the sincerestand profoundest sympathy with us in the hearts 
of the good people of the nations, and among all people. 
It is worth while, my friends, to pause a moment, and ask 
why this is? 

WHY DO WE MOURN? 

It is doubtless attributable in part to the wondrous tri- 
umphs of science and art within the present century, by 
means of which time and space have been so far conquered, 
that nations onoe far distant and necessarily alienated from 
each other, are brought into close communication, and the 
various ties of commerce, and of social interests, and of re- 
ligious interests bring them into a contactof fellowship that 
could not have been known in former times. 

It is likewise unquestionably partly due to the fact that 
this Kation of ours, which has grown to such wondrous 
might and power before the whole earth, and which is, in 
fact, the hope of the world in all that relates to the highest 
civilization, that sympathy for this Nation and respect for 
this great power leads to these offerings of condolence and 
expressions of sympathy and grief from the various nations 
of the earth, and because they have learned to respect this 
Nation, and recognize that the Nation is stricken in the 
fatal blow that has taken away our President from us. And 



AND ITS GREAT LESSONS. 19 

jet this will by no means account for this marvelous and 
world-wide sympathy of which we are speaking. Yet it 
cannot be attributed to mere intellectual greatness, for 
there have been and there are other great men; and, ac- 
knowledofinof all that the most enthusiastic heart could 
claim to our beloved leader, it is but fair to say that there 
have been more eminent educators, there have beea greater 
soldiers, there have been more skillful, and experienced, 
and powerful legislators and leaders of mighty parties and 
political forces. There is no one department in which he 
has won eminence where the world might not point to 
others who attained higher and more intellectual greatness. 
It might not be considered more righteously here than in 
many other cases; yet, perhaps, it is rare in the history ot 
men and in the history of nations that any one man has 
combined so much of excellence in all those various de- 
partments, and who, as an educator, and a lawyer, and a 
legislator, and a soldier, and a party chieftain, and a ruler, 
has done so well, so thoroughly well, in all departments, 
and brought out such successful results as to inspire confi- 
dence and command respect and approval in every path of 
life in which he has walked, and in every department of 
public activity which he has occupied. 

Yet I think when we come to a proper estimate of his 
character and seek after the secret of their world-wide 
sympathy and affection, we shall find it rather in the rich- 
ness and integrity of his moral nature, and in that sincer- 
ity, in that transparent honesty, in that truthfulness that 
laid the basis for everything of greatness to which we do 
honor to-day, I may state here what perhaps is not gen- 
erally known as an illustration of this: 

A THRILLING INCIDENT — GARFIELD ENLISTING UNDER THE 

BANNER OF CHRIST. 

When J'uncs A, Garfield was yet a mere lad in thia 



20 A GRAND LIFE 

county, a series of religious meetings were held in one of 
the towns of Cuyahoga County by a minister by no means 
attractive as an orator, possessing none of the graces of an 
orator, and marked only by the entire sincerity, by good 
reasoning powers, and by earnestness in seeking to win 
souls from sin to righteousness. The lad Garfield attended 
these meetings for several nights, and after listening night 
after night to the sermons, he went one day to the minister 
and said to him : 

" Sir, I have been listening to jonr preaching night after 
night, and I am fully persuaded that, if these things you 
say are true, it is the duty and the highest interest of every 
man, and especially of every young man, to accept that re- 
ligion and seek to be a man. But really I don't know 
whether this thing is true or not. I can't say I disbelieve 
it, but I dare not say that I fully and honestly believe it. 
If I were sure that it were true, I would most gladly give 
it my heart and my life." So, after a long talk, the min- 
ister preached that night on the text, " What is Truth?'* 
and proceeded to show that, notwithstanding all the various 
and conflicting theories and opinions in ethical science, and 
notwithstanding all the various and conflicting opinions in 
the world, there .was one assured and eternal alliance for 
every human soul in Christ Jesus, as to the way of the 
truth and the life that every soul of man was safe with 
Jesus Christ; that he never would mislead; that any young 
man giving Ilim his hand and heart and walking in his 
pathway would not go astray, and that whatever miglit be 
the solution of ten thousand insoluble mysteries, at the end 
of all things the man who loved Jesus Christ and walked 
after the footsteps of Jesus, and realized in spirit and life 
the pure morals and the sweet piety, that he to-night was 
safe, if safety there were in the universe of God ; safe, what- 
ever else were safe; safe, whatever else might prove un- 
worthy and perish forever. And Garfield seized upon it 



AND ITS GREAT LESSONS. 21 

after due reflection, and came forward and gave his hand 
to the minister in pledge of acceptance of the guidance of 
Christ for his life, and turned back upon the sins of the 
world forever. 

The bo J is father to the man, and that pure honesty and 
integrity, and that fearless^spirit to inquire, and that brave 
surrender of all the cliarms of sin to conviction of duty 
and right, went with him from that boyhood throughout his 
life, and crowned him with the honors that were so cheer- 
fully awarded to him from all hearts over this vast land. . 

VIRTUE AND HER REWARDS. 

/ 

There was another thing. He passed all the conditions 
of virtuous life, between the log cabin in Cuyahoga and 
the White House, and in that wonderful, rich and varied 
experience, still moving up from liigh to higher, he has 
touched every heart in all this land in some point or other, 
and he became the representative of all hearts and lives in 
this land, and not only the teacher but the interpreter of 
all virtues, for he knew their wants, and he knew their con- 
dition, and he established legitimately ties of brotherhood 
with every man with whom he came in contact. I take it 
that this law lying at the basis of his character, this rock 
on which his whole life rested, followed up by the perpetual 
and enduring industry that marked his whole career, made 
him at once the honest and the capable man who invited in 
sverv act of his life, and received the confidence and the 
love, the unbounded confidence and trust, of all who learned 
to know him. 

A ROUNDED LIFE. 

There is yet one other thing that' I ought to mention 
here. There was such an admirable harmony of all his 
powers; there was such a beautiful adjustment of the phy- 
sical, intellectual, and moral in his being; there was such 



22 A GRAND LIFE 

an equitable distribution of physical, intellectual, and 
moral forces, that his nature looked out every way to get at 
sympathy with everything, and found about equal delight 
in all pursuits and studies; so that he became, through his 
industry - and honest ambition, really an encyclopedia. 
There was scarce any single word that you could touch to 
which he would not respond in a way that made you know 
tliat his hands had swept it skillfully long ago, and there 
was no topic you could bring before him, there was no ob- 
ject you could present to him, that you did not wonder at 
the richness and fullness of information somehow gathered; 
fo^his eyes were always open, and his heart was always 
open; and his brain was ever busy, and equally interested 
in everything — the minute and the vast, the high and the 
low. In all classes and professions of men he gathered up 
that immense store, and that immense variety of the most 
valnable and practical knowledge that made him a man, 
not in one department, but in all rounds, everywhere his 
whole beautiful and symmetrical life and cliaracter. But, 
my friends, the solemnity of this hour forbids any further 
investigation in that line, any further detail of a very re- 
markable life. For these details you are familiar with, 
or, if not, they will come before you through various chan- 
nels hereafter. 

THE GREAT LESSON. 

It is my duty, in the presence of tlie dead, and in view 
of all the solemnities that rest upon us now in a solemn 
burial service, to call your attention to the great lesson 
taught you, and by which we ought to become wiser, and 
purer, and better men. And I want to say, therefore, first 
of all, that there comes a voice from the dead to this entire 
nation, and not only to the people, but to those in places 
of trust — to our legislators and our governors, and our 
military men, and our leaders of parties, and all classes 



AND ITS GREAT LESSONS. 23 

and creeds in the Union and in the States, as well as to 
those who dwell in the humblest life, qualified with the 
dio:nities and privileges of citizenship. 

The great lesson to which I desire to point you can be 
expressed in a few words. James A. Garfield went through 
his whole political life without surrendering for a moment 
his Christian integrity, his moral character, or Ms love 
for the spiritual. 

Coming into the exciting conflicts of political life with a 
nature capable as any of feeling the force of every temp- 
tation, with temptations to unholy ambition, with unlawful 
prizes within his reach, with every inducement to surrender 
all his religious faith and be known merely as a successful 
man of the world— from first to last, he has manfully ad- 
hered to his religious convictions and found more praise, 
and ^rathers to him in his death all the pure inspirations 
of the hope of everlasting life. 

I am very well aware of a feeling among political men, 
justly shared in all over the land by those who engage in 
political life, that a man cannot afford to be a politician and 
a Christian. That he must necessarily forego his duty to 
God, and be abandoned in different measures of policy that 
may be necessary to enable him to achieve the desired re- 
sult. Now, my friends, 1 call your attention to this grand 
life, as teaching a lesson altogether invaluable just at this 
point. I want you to look at that man. I want you to 
think of him in his early manhood. He was so openly com- 
mitted to Christ and the principles of the Christian religion 
that he was frequently found, among a people who allow 
large liberty, occupying a pulpit, and you are within a few 
miles of the spot where great congregations gathered, when 
he was as yet most a boy, just emerging into manhood, week 
after week, and hung upon the words that fell from his lips 
with admiration, wonder and enthusiasm. It was that 
when he was known to be occupying this position they in- 



24 A GRAND LIFE 

vited him to become a candidate for the Ohio State Senate. 
It was with the full knowledge of all that belonged to him 
in his Christian faith and his efforts to lead a Christian life, 
that this was tendered to him; and without any resort to 
any dishonorable means l>e was elected, and served his State 
and began his legislative career. 

When the country was called to arms, when the Union 
-was in danger, and his great heart leaped with enthusiasm 
and was filled with holiest desire, and ambitious to render 
some service to his country, it required no surrender of the 
dignity and nobleness of his Christian life to secure to liim 
the honors that fell on him so thick and fast, and the suc- 
cesses that followed each other so rapidly as to luake him 
the wonder of the world, though he ventured upon that 
career wholly unacquainted witli military life, and could 
only win his way by tlie honesty of his purpose and the 
diligence and faithfulness with which he seized upon every 
opportunity to accomplish the work before him. Follow 
him from that time until he left the service in the field. The 
people of his district sent him to Congress, their hearts 
gathering about him without any effort on his part, and 
they kept him there as long as he would stay, and they 
would have kept him there yet if he had said so. He re- 
mained there until, by the voice of the people of this State, 
when there were other bright, and strong, and good names 
— men who were entitled to recognition and reward, and 
worthy every way to bear senatorial honors-^he was sent 
to the United States Senate. Yet there were such currents 
of admiration, and sympathy, and trust, and love, coming- 
in from all y)arts of the State, that the action of the Legis- 
lature at Columbus was but the echo of the popular voice 
when by acclamation they gave him that place, and every 
other candidate £:racefullv retired. 

And then, again, when he went to Chicago to serve the 
interests of another; when, 1 know, liis ambition was fully 



AND ITS GREAT LESSONS. 25 

satisfied, and he had received that on which his heart was 
set, and looked with more than gladness for a path in life 
which he thought his entire education and culture had pre- 
pared him; when, wearied out with every eifort to com- 
mand a majority for any candidate, the hearts of that great 
convention turned on every side to James A. Garfield. In 
spite of himself and against every feeling, wish, and prayer 
of his own heart, this honor was crowded upon him; and 
the Kation responded with holy enthusiasm from one end 
of the land to the other; and in the same honorable way he 
was elected to the Chief Magistracy undei* circumstances 
which, however bitter the party conflict, caused all hearts of 
all parties not only to acquiesce, but to feel proud in the 
consciousness that we had a Chief Magistrate of whom 
they need not be ashamed before the world, and unto whom 
they could safely confide the destinies of this mighty Na- 
tion. 

TRUTH IS THE SURE AND ETERNAL FOUNDATION. 

Now, gentlemen, let me say to you all, those of you 
occupying great places of trust who are here to-day, and the 
mass of those who are called upon to discharge the respon- 
sibilities of citizenship, year by year, the most invaluable 
lesson that we learn from the life of our beloved, departed 
President is that not onlj' is it not incompatible with suc- 
cess, but it is the surest means of success, to consecrate heart 
and life to that which is true and right, and rise above all 
questions of mere policy, wedding the soul to truth and 
right, and the Grod of truth and righteousness in holy wed- 
lock, never to be dissolved. 

I feel, just at this point, that we need this lesson, in this 
great, wondrous land of ours, this mighty Nation, in its 
marvelous upward career, with its ever-increasing power, 
opening its arms to receive from all lands the people of all 
languages, all religions, and all conditions, and hoping, in 



26 A GRAND LIFE 

the warm embrace of political brotherhood, to blend them 
with us, to melt them into a common mass, so that, when 
melted and run over again, it becomes like the Corintliian 
brass, and in one type of manhood, thus incorporating all 
the various nations of the eartli in one grand brotherhood, 
presenting before the nations of the world a spectacle of 
freedom, and strength, and prosperit}^, and power, beyond 
anythino; the world has ever known. 

But let me say that the permanency of the work and its 
continued enlargement must depend on our maintaining 
virtue as well as intelligence, and making dominant in all 
the land those principles of pure morality that Jesus Christ 
has taught us. Just as we cling to that we are safe, and 
just as we forget and depart from that we proceed toward dis- 
aster and ruin, and this, now when we see what has been 
accomplished in a mighty life like this, is an instance of 
the power of truth and right which spreads from heart to 
heart, and from life to life, and from State to State, and 
finally from nation to nation, until, these pure principles 
reigning everywhere, God shall realize his great purpose, 
so long ago expressed to us in the words of prophecy, that 
the kinocdoms of this world are become the Kino-doms of 
our God and of his Christ; so that, then, over the dead 
body of James A. Garfield may all the people join hands 
and swear by the Eternal God that they will dismiss all 
unworthy purposes, and love and worship only the true and 
the right, and in the inspiration of the grand principles 
that Jesus Christ has tann:ht, seeking to realize the wrand 
ends of the high civilization to which His word of truth 
and right continually point us. I cannot prolong my re- 
marks to any great extent. 

There are two or three things that I must say, however, 
before I close. There is a voice to the Church in this 
death tliat I cannot pause now to speak of particularly. 



AND ITS GEE AT LESSONS. 27 

There is a tenderer and a more awful voice that speaks to 
the members ot' the family — to that sacred circle within 
which really his true life and character were better devel- 
oped and more perfectly known than anywhere else. What 
words can tell the weight of anguish that rests upon the 
hearts of those who so dearly loved him, shared with him 
the sweet sanctities of his home— the pure life, the gentle- 
ness, the kindness, and the manliness that pervaded all his 
actions, and made his home a charming one for its inmates, 
and for all that shared in his hospitalities. It is of all 
things the saddest and most grievous blow, that those 
bound to him by the tenderest ties in the home circle, are 
called to yield him to the grave, to hear that voice of love 
no more, to behold that manly form uo longer moving in 
the sacred circle of home, to receive no more the benefit of 
the loving hand of the father that rested upon the heads of 
his children, and commended the blessings of God upon 
them. 

THE MOTHKE. 

The dear old mother, who realizes here to-day that her 
four-score years are, after all, but labor and sorrow — to 
whom we owe — back of all I have spoken of, the education 
and training that made him what he was, and who has been 
led from that humble home in the wilderness, side by side 
with him in all his elevation, and assured him the triumph 
and the glory that came to him step by step, as he mounted 
up from high to higher, to receive the highest honors that 
the land could bestow upon him; left behind him, linger- 
ing on the shore where he has passed over to the other side^ 
what words can express the sympathy that is due to her, or 
the consolation that can strengthen her heart and give her 
courage to bear this bitter bereavement? 

THE WIFE. 

And the wife, who began with him in young womanood^ 



28 A GRAND LIFE 

who has bravely kept step with him right along through all 
his wondrous career, and who has been not only his wife, 
but his friend and counselor through all their succession of 
prosperities and his increase of influence and power, and 
who, when the day of calamity came, was there, his minis- 
tering angel, his prophetess and his priestess, when the cir- 
cumstances were such as to forbid ministrations from other 
hands, speaking to him the words of cheer which sustained 
him through that long, fearful struggle for life, and watch- 
ing over him when his dying vision rested upon her beloved 
form, and sought from her eyes an insuring gaze that 
should speak when words could not speak. 

THE CHILDREN, 

And the children, that have grown up to a period when 
they can remember all that belonged to him, left fatherless 
in a world like this; yet, surrounded with a Nation's sym- 
pathy and with a world's affection, and able to treasure in 
their hearts its grand lessons of his noble and wondrous 
life, may be assured that the eyes of the Nation are upon 
them, and that the hearts of the people go out after them. 
"While there is much to support and encourage, it is still a 
sad thing, and calls for our deepest sympathy, that they 
have lost such a father, and are left to make their way 
through this rough world without his guiding hand or his 
wise counsels. But that which makes this terrible to them 
now is just that which, as the years go by, will make very 
sweet, and bright, and joyous memories to fill all the lips 
of the coming years. By the very loss which they deplore, 
and by all the loving actions that bound them in blessed 
sympathy in the home circle, they will live over again ten 
thousand times all the sweet life of the past, and, though 
dead, he will live with them, and though his tongue be 
dumb in the grave will speak anew to them ten thousand 
beautiful lessons of love, and righteousness, and truth. 



AND ITS GEE AT LESSONS. 29 

THE DIVINE BENEDICTIONS. 

May God, in His infinite mercy, fold them in His arms 
and bless them as tliey need in this hour of darkness, and 
bear them safely through what remains of the troubles and 
sorrows of the pilgrimage unto the everlasting home, where 
there shall be no more death, nor crying, neither shall there 
be any more pain, for the former things shall have forever 
passed away. "We commit you, beloved friends, to the arms 
and to the care of the everlasting Father who has promised 
to be the God of the widow and the father of the father- 
less, in His holy habitation, and whose sweet promise goes 
with us through all the dark and stormy paths of life: " I 
will never leave thee nor forsake thee." I have discharged 
now the solemn covenant trust reposed in me many years 
ago, in harmony with a friendship that has never known a 
cloud, a confidence thathas never trembled, and a love that 
has never changed. Fare thee well, my friend and brother; 
"Thou hast fought a good fight; thou hast finished thy 
course; thou hast kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid 
up for thee a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the 
Righteous Judge, will give to thee on that day, and not 
unto thee only, but unto all them also who love His appear- 
ing." 



JAMES A. GARFIELD-A CITY SET ON A HILL. 



By Prof. Swing. 



Delivered in Music Hall, Chicago, Sept. 25, 1881. (Full report.) 
" A city set on a hill cannot be hid." Matt. 5:15. 

In that part of our earth which was made memorable by 
the presence of Jesus, many of the cities and towns were 
located upon the summit of a hill or mountain. The op- 
pressive temperature of the summer months, and military 
considerations, and also a sense of the beautiful, led those 
who were about to found a village or a city to seek not al- 
ways some river-bank or lake-shore, but some hill, or crag, 
or mountain. Nazareth, the town of Christ's early life, 
was on a height, and on one side there was a fearful preci- 
pice, down which the offended citizens threatened to throw 
Him who had rebuked their sins. The two mountains, 
Moriali and Sion, remind us that Jerusalem was seated 
upon lofty heights, and was a grand spectacle to the traveler 
who was journeying thither in its palmy days. The Tem- 
ple of Solomon, the palaces of the King and his court, 
with the walls and watch-towers, made up an impressive 
scene to all coming along the valleys of Kedron and Hin- 
nom, and fnlly justified the thought of Christ that "a city 
Bet on a hill cannot be hid." 

(30) 



A CITY SET ON A HILL. 31 

The domain of Christ was spiritual; when He spoke of 
material things He had the spiritual qualities of our world 
in His mind. He wished that His disciples might possess 
virtues so great and so active that all society might behold 
and enjoy their righteousness and benevolence. The ages 
had been full of diminutive persons who lived only for self 
and for all small results— persons like to lighted candles 
placed under a bushel. It was time other forms of soul 
should appear; time for the world to have minds and hearts 
that should be as large and visible as cities upon mountains. 
Soon after the great Palestine Teacher had uttered His 
wish and had given the nations a specimen of a soul too 
large and too lofty to be concealed, the dream began to find 
fulfillment in many of the departments of human life. 
Thought and sentiment began to be enlarged, history began 
to record greater actions and to receive into its storehouse 
greater biographies. There came along in the living tide 
men whose heads rose above the multitude like the tall 
cliff which " midway leaves the storm." 

HUMAN GREA-TNESS AND SORROW. 

Our Nation mourns to-day the loss of one too lofty to be 
concealed. All the grades of society, looking up from the 
door of cottage or palace, see this outline of a scholar, and 
statesman, and soldier, and President, and all mourn that 
the image is no longer to be seen in life, but only in death's 
pallor. The spectacle is made unusual, not only by the 
merit of the dead man, but also by the savage cruelty of the 
wound that robbed this citizen of his existence. The eighty 
days of physical and mental suffering, of alternate hope and 
fear, days which reduced a powerful man to the powers of 
only an infant, add their awful part toward placing this 
name fully before the civilized portion of the world. Made 
conspicuous by his character and works, Mr. Garfield be- 
comes conspicuous by his misfortune. Thus this figure 



32 JAMES A. GARFIELD; 

stands as upon a hill, and it will require centuries full of 
men and of events to hide its colossal outline from the gaze 
of mankind. Man is drawn toward the pathetic. What 
touches his heart, touches also his memory. Pity often 
makes up a large element in love. Had Mr. Garlield died 
of disease or by the limitation of nature, he would have been 
a large subject of study, but millions will read his biography 
in coming years because it ends in the awful cloud of trag- 
edy. "What do we witness to-day, and what will those 
behold who shall in future times run over the black and 
white page in history — black with misfortune, white in vir- 
tue? It must come to us as a peculiar fact that two of the 
greatest of American names are now made more sacred by 
the sadness of their deaths. As though the overruling 
Providence desired that the young men of this era and of 
future times should study deeply the lives of Garfield and 
Lincoln, their deaths were made tragic to allure the student 
toward their chapters in the annals of society. 

YOUNG GAKFIELD AND LIBERTY. 

Looking at this man," not easy to be hidden, we sec the 
ability of our country to produce a high order of manhood. 
That liberty which in name has been tl^e ideal condition of 
all ages, here verifies all the qld hopes and produces a sym- 
metrical character strong on every side. AVhen a lad, this 
Garfield enjoyed the free play of all his intellectual and 
emotional faculties. He was free to move toward books, 
and profession, and wisdom. All the gates to success would 
open to him as they had opened to a Webster or a Clay. 
He was not imprisoned by birth nor by caste. The path 
to law or statesmanship was as free to him as the path along 
the canal, and out of this freedom of a continent came an 
ambition of great power. Often when distinguished visit- 
ors appear in London they are given the freedom of the 
city in a gold box — an elegant letter, before which the doors 



A CITY SET ON A HILL. 33 

of galleries, and libraries, and parliaments, and cathedrals 

fly open. , , 

■ To this yonth, poor and unknown, the Nation gave the 
freedom of the whole circle of human acquisition, from the 
study of Greek to a place in the army ; from the hall ot the 
law-maker to the chair of a President; and his ambition 
and energy were inspired by the generous offer. Freedom 
does not confer merit, but it affords an opportunity, and 
even allures the heart along by its possible rewards. It 
creates a landscape which charms the eye of each one pet- 
ting out upon the journey of life. Despotism offers a des- 
ert to all the humble of birth. If poor and of low parent- 
age, the mind sees only an arid plain, without tree or blos- 
som, but the liberty and equality of this land make it op- 
tional with the traveler whether the plain he is to pass over 
shall be a desert or a magnificent garden. All is left to 
personal taste, and industry and will. And this taste, and 
industry, and personal power, are developed by the many, 
and <^reat rewards offered to their growth. Mr. Garfield is 
one more witness in this great spiritual trial, and his testi- 
mony is direct, that the liberty of America is the greatest 
opportunity ever offered to man as man. Elsewhere re- 
wards are offered to the few; here all are invited to the best 
feast of earth. 

LESSONS FOR THE YOUNd^. 

In this eminent man the youth of to-day may learn that 
early poverty and hardships, instead of breaking the heart, 
need only sober the judgment and compel that common 
sense to come early and richly, which to the children of 
luxury comes scantily and comes late, if ever it finds a 
dawn" We can now look back and perceive that the hard- 
ships in the youth of him who died as a President was 
onlv a condition of things which made all the philosophy 
which came to the young man assume a practical t<jrin. it 
3 



84 JAMES A. GARFIELD; 

was not thought a philosopliy unless it held in its solution 
much of human happiness; for when a toiler along a canal 
meditates, it will be for the welfare of man; just as when a 
slave thinks, he thinks of liberty; just as when a fever- 
patient dreams, his dream is about cc^ld water. It has been 
stated recently that the dreams and laws of reform and all 
welfare do not come down from the rich and great, but 
up from the poor. Therefore those statesmen who 
have tasted some of the bitter things of the world know 
best how badly the waters need sweetening. This patient 
toiler wrought out an economy for the millions of youth 
here and everywhere. He showed what will and industry 
and exalted purposes can accomplish in this wide land — 
that all the young need ask as an endowment is mental and 
pliysical health. That is the essential capital upon which 
to base a large business in things either mental or spiritual. 

man's dignity and greatness. 

Out of energy and taste comes the real dignity of man. 
This dead President carries us back to the theory of old 
Plato, that motion or energy lies at the origin of t^e uni- 
verse; that the starry skies and the variegated earth are only 
expressions of the self-moved mind. To this notion this 
one heart brings us back, for out of its self-moved depths 
there issued a moral world of great attractiveness. Edu- 
cation, learning, religion, politics, duty, honor, and high 
office emerged from the mind which began its career far 
down in weakness. That force made all the humble days 
and years to be rich veins of the later silver and gold. 

As in the theology of naturo we gather up the infinite 
phenomena of land, and sea, and sky, and say the One mind 
made all these wonderful and beautiful things, so in reading 
this biography, whose last page has just been written in 
tears, the reader will say. Behold what goodness and great- 
ness have moved out of that one heart in royal pageantry ! 



A CITY SET ON A HILL. 



35 



Was James A. Garfield great? Ask those early years, 
when adverse winds always assailed his bark; ask the nights 
of study: ask the schools where he taught; ask the place 
where lie worshiped; ask the halls where he helped enact 
wise laws; ask tiie battle-fields where he led soldiers; ask 
the magnificent Capitol where he was crowned as republi- 
cans crown tlieir chieftains; ask the cottage where he 

died. 

If out of the answers to these questions there comes not 
the witness of greatness, the human heart must henceforth 
toil and long in vain. Earth has no greatness. And yet 
all this human excellence grew up ont of our national re- 
sources, as though to show the world the peculiar richness 
of the soil; and grew inland so far that we cannot say 
that England or Europe combined with America to cause 

this character. 

The boy and man lived in the heart of the continent all 
surrounded by his country; and he lies in his coffin to-day 
a dead child of his Nation. The country mourns to-day, not 
only because a man has died, and died unjustly and pam- 
fully, but also because that man was her son. She had 
reared him, she saw her own likeness in his face, she loved 
him; in him were a mother's hopes. This land herein 
shows not only the power of its institutions to fashion a no- 
ble character, but that power of appreciation and grief 
that can weep for one thus overtaken by death. 

SIGNS OF A HIGHER CIVILIZATION. 

In the scene of these few days we must mark some signs 
of a higher civilization and a more sensitive brotherhood. 
Looking at the assassin we might despair of tho present 
and the future. We might wonder what is the .^ue of 
school-house, and church, and literature, and freedom, and 
the eloquence over human rights, if out of these beautiful 
thino-s there can stalk a man much more cruel than a brute 



36 JAMES A. GARFIELD; 

But while the heart wonders and sinks over tlie name of 
that one savage, it is cheered by seeing a whole civilized race 
moved by a divine pity. 

One vile human creature wished to remove Garfield from 
life, but millions upon millions wished him to live — live 
happily and live long. Men of wealth and men of poverty, 
men of learning and men of scanty education, men of all 
the political parties, men in the South and men in the 
Korth, and the crowned Kings and Queens, loved the life of 
this one man, and would, by their esteem, have carried him 
beyond the common three-score years of pilgrimage. His 
death was desired by the lowest one of the human race; it is 
lamented by the entire population of two continents. 

If we count or measure these tears, if we see the Queen 
of England ordering her court to put on the emblems of 
mourniner, we cannot but conclude that the hate of the one 
assassin is sublimely outweighed by the esteem of the 
world. In the presence of such an uprising of brotherly 
esteem the murderer finds his proper depth of infamy. In 
the light of a universal love we see the dark cruelty of the 
crime. 

But we must not forget that we have assembled to-day in 
the name of the weekly service of God. If in this life of a 
President any quality of Christianity is placed upon a 
mountain top, that quality cannot remain hidden. In our 
times, when there is threatened an eclipse of faith, all relig- 
ious minds must be happy to recall the public man who in 
his best manhood saw the power of a belief in God. He 
realized the perfect grandeur of the words: "The Lord 
Beigns." He uttered them in an hour of great national 
darkness, and the populace needed no other eloquence; and 
when in July last the one who had ofi'ered consolation in 
calah..ty needed some refuge for himself, he said he was 
ready to die or to live. Not the details of any church faith 
came, but the great ideas of the Christian religion grouped 



A CITY SET ON A HILL. '^' 

themselves around his bed-the best angels of those sad 
nights, for they were to help him when the skill ot man 

should fail. 

gakfield's religion. 

It would be unjust to the name of Christ to say that 
Mr Garfield's religion was only that of Nature, only such 
general thoughts as were cherished by Gi-eek and Roman 
pa<.ans. His faith came to him through the Church ol 
the a-e as it communicates its ideas through pulpit and 
press and the Testament, as it is wont to surround and 
teach the voung all through the days of formation, ot pas- 
sion, and temptation. That Church encompassed this 
youth with its hymns, and morals, and trust, and hope, 
and if at last the world saw evidences of that honor so 
conspicuous in the Sermon on the Mount, and that beliet 
in Heaven so visible in Jesus Christ, it is under some obli- 
gation to confess that Christianity helped form that char- 
acter which to-day all admire and lament. Beyond doubt, 
daily association with learned men of all the different re- 
ligious sects, and the daily discovery that many creeds 
made only one kind of religious manhood, turned Mr. 
Garfield awav from the distinctive doctrines of a denomi- 
nation, and l^d him into the concord of taitli rather than in- 
to its discord ; but in estimating the greatness of his charac- 
ter we must declare that his moral symmetry was Chnst- 
hke and Christlike his repose in the hope ot a second hte. 
From his official and personal height he reminds the whole 
land that there should be church doors open to all the youth, 
inviting them away from the sins of the street and from the 
freezing touch of a Godless air-there should be a Sunday 
secured to the young and old, that there might be some 
hours of sunlight for these delicate plants-taith and spir- 
itualitv If our Nation, destined in a generation or more 
to surpass all upon the globe in power, material and men- 



38 JAMES A. GARFIELD; 

tal, desires to be governed by able and ^ood men, it must 
see to it that the school-house and the church, with its day 
of rest, are kept open, for through these the youth pass on 
■their way to all great beauty of character and usefulness of 
life. 

GARFIELD AND LINCOLN. 

It has been the reproach of our country that it is not 
rich in history ; that the mind must look beyond the ocean 
or travel beyond the ocean to reach the presence of all that 
is deemed impressive. We have no venerable architecture, 
no historic church, no places of fame, no throne-rooms, or 
prisons, or towers, or crowns, or jewels, made affecting by 
the annals of a thousand years. This objection to our new 
world is well made; but this poverty of our country is be- 
ing rapidly exchanged for riches — the riches seen in such 
men as Lincoln and Garfield, and similar moral products 
of the Kepublic. A nation will not long remain without 
history when the lives of such men are rapidly entering 
into the great open page. The Old World in its thousand- 
year period, reaching from the tenth century to the nine- 
teenth, cannot point us to better names — names which 
stand for a better union of intelligence, and ability, and 
integrity, and charity, and heroism. Old history can point 
us to violent deaths of rulers, and can say: here Charles I- 
was beheaded, here Mary, Queen of Scots, died, here Marat 
was slain; but our two great Presidents have been slain, 
not by a multitude which was wronged, but by ])rivate 
fanatics, in their attack as unauthorized as beasts of prey; 
and, while old history abounds in instances where men died 
for some sins or wrongs, our new history points us to two 
great leaders who were the unhapp}' victims each of a sin- 
gle wicked heart; and died to gratify no party, but amid 
the tears of all parties and factions of the land. 



A CITY SET ON A HILL. 39 

THE WHITE PAGES OF HISTORY. 

Rapidly is our count;^ making np a history which will 
surpass those books we read in our early years. It cannot 
be affirmed of many of these illustrious ones whose names 
besprinkle the records of human life tliat they surpassed this 
Garfield in the power to measure the wants of society, and 
in the sympathy that cannot forget the welfare of the 
people. Where ancient great men trampled about in the 
living fields, this man walked softly, fearing lest some flower 
might be crushed. That attachment to the aged mother, 
that measureless attachment to the wife, were only eviden- 
ces that this President was the type and product of a new 
age which was putting aside ferocity, and was reaching a 
sensibility as to human rights which was not present in the 
men who ruled once those nations which now boast of pos- 
sessing history. The American pages may not be many, 
but comparatively they are white. 

Must we not to-day read anew the lesson of mortality ? 
Must not we who have come into this church from the 
many paths of the world, along which paths we, too, are 
allured by some one of the many forms of ambition and 
hope, feel deeply the undeniable fact that we are all hasten- 
ing to the end ? The closing scene may not be tragic, but 
it is coming. We are asked to think of these things by 
the memory of both Lincoln and Garfield, for they were 
both half-melancholy men — the former loving pathetic po- 
etry, the latter even writing it. Lincoln in the height of 
his fame would say : 

" The hand of the king that (he sceptre hath borne, 
The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn, 
The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave, 
Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave. 

" The peasant whose lot was to sow and to reap, 
The herdsman who climbed with his goats up the steep, 
The beggax who wandered In search of his bread, 
Have faded away like the grass that we tread." 



40 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 

And Mr. Garfield, in the higlit of his success, looked out 
upon the earth of his triumph with sad eyes. He was 
unable to forget that he and all he loved were being borne 
along by arms mysterious and powerful. All sensitive 
minds are pathetic and almost superstitious in their hours 
of meditation. The dictates of reason are not able to coun- 
teract fully the deep attachments of the heart to life and 
friends and all the loved ones. When the great are warm- 
hearted they are melancholy and most plaintive. May you 
all possess such a pathetic estimate of our earth ; may you 
all see the tombward march of man, so read the vanity of 
riches, and fame, and home, and love, that you shall be 
compelled to become children of God and of Jesus Christ, 
and thus children of the final country that knows no fu- 
neral pageants, no days of bitter disappointment. 



JAMES A. GARFIELD- MIGHTIER DEAD 
THAN LIVING." 



Bt Dr. T. De Witt Talmage. 



Delivered in Brooklyn Tabernacle, Sept. 25, 1881— (full report.) 

And the dead which he slew at hLs death were more than they which he slew in 
liis life. Judges, 16:30. 

Sampson in the text was deified and became the Hercu- 
les of Greece. He was a giant warrior born to be a leader, 
and Paul applauds him as a man who through faith sub- 
dued kingdoms. "He was a friend of God and an enemy 
of unrighteousness." But the most memorable scene in his 
life was the death scene. The Philistines, his enemies, 
gathered round him in a great building to mock him. 
With supernatural strength he laid hold of the pillars and 
flung everything into ruin, destroying the lives of the 3,000 
scoffers, among them the Lords of Pliilistia. He had slain 
many of the enemies of God during his life, but my text 
savs his last achievement was the mightiest. " So the dead 
which he slew at his death were more than they which he 
slew in his life." It is sometimes the case that after a 
most industrious, useful and eminent life, the last hours 
are more potent than the long years that went before. In 
the overshadowing event of this day, we find illustration of 
my text. 

(41) 



42 JAMES A. GARFIELD; 

President Garfield, as many orators will say, was all bis 
life the enemy of sin, the enemy of sectionalism, the enemy 
of everything small-hearted and impui-e and debasing. He 
made many a crashing blow against those moral and polit- 
ical Philistines, but in his death he made mightier con- 
quest. 

The eleven weeks of dyinsr made a more illustrious record 
than the fifty years of living. " So the dead which he slew 
at his death were more than they which he slew in his life." 
As a matter of inspiration and comfort, I propose to show 
you that President Garfield's expiration is a mightier good 
than a prolonged lifetime possibly could be. Mind you, 
there was no time at which his death-bed could have been 
so emphatic. If he had died a few years before, his depar- 
ture would not have been so conspicuous. If he had died 
one month before, his administration would not have been 
fairly launched. If he had died six months later, his ad- 
vanced policy of reform would have cut the friendship of a 
great multitude, and if he had died years after he would 
have been out of office and in the decline of life. But he 
died at the time when all parties had turned to him with 
unparalleled expectation. There has not been a time in all 
the fifty years of his past when his death-bed could have 
been so efi'ective, and in the next fifty years there could not 
have been a time when his death-bed would have been so 
impressive. 

Garfield's remarkable death. 

First, our President's death, more than his life, eulogizes 
the Christian religion. We all talk about the hope of the 
Christian, and the courage of the Christian, and the pa- 
tience of the Christian. Put all the sermons on these sub- 
jects for the last twenty years together, and they would 
not make such an impression as the magnificent demeanor 
of this dying Chief Magistrate. He was no more afraid to 



MIGHTIER DEAD THAN LIVING. 43 

die tlian you are to go home tliis morning. "Without one 
word of complaint he endured an anguish that his autopsy 
alone could reveal to the astonished world. For eighty 
davs in inquisition of pain, yet often smiling, often facetious, 
always calm ; giving military salute to a soldier who hap- 
pened to look in at the window, talking with Cabinet offi- 
cers about the affairs of state, reading the public bulletins 
in regard to his condition, watching his own pulse, and so 
undisturbed of sonl that I warrant if it had not been for his 
dependent family and the Nation, whom he wanted to 
serve, he would have been glad to depart any time. O, 
sirs! all he ever did in confirmation of religion in days of 
health was nothing compared with what he did for it in 
this last crisis. James A. Garfield learned his religion 
from his mother, when she was trying, in widowhood and 
povert}'', to bring up her boys aright; from that same old 
mother-who sat with her Bible in her lap in her bed-room 
last Tuesday, when the news came that her son was dead. 

James A. Garfield had no new religion to experiment 
with in his last hours. It was the same gospel into the 
faith of which he was baptized, when in early manhood he 
was immersed in the river, in the name of the Father, of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. That religion had stood 
the test through all the buffetings and persecutions, through 
the hard work of life, and it did not forsake him in the tre- 
mendous close. There have been thousands of death-beds 
as calm and beautiful as this, but they were not so conspic- 
uous. This electrifies Christendom. This encourages the 
pain-struck in hospitals, and scattered all up and down the 
world, to suffer patiently. The consumptive, the cancered 
and the palsied, and the fevered and the dying of all na- 
tions lift their heads from their hot pillows and bless this 
heroic, this triumphant, this illustrious suflterer. The re- 
ligion that uphe4d him under surgeon's knife, and amid 
the appalling days and nights at Long Branch and at Wash- 



44 JAMES A. GARFIELD; 

ington, is a good religion to have. Show us in all the ages 
among the enemies of Christianity a death-bed that will 
compare with this radiant sunset. 

1 "shaking hands across the palpitating heart." 

Again, our President's death will do more for the con- 
summation of right feeling between North and South than 
all his administration of four years could have accom- 
plished. This is not " shaking hands across the bloody 
chasm " according to the rhetoric of campaign documents; 
this is shaking hands across the palpitating heart, that was 
large enough to take in both sections. This expiring man 
took the hand of the North and the hand of the South and 
joined them together, and practically said, with a dying 
pathos that can never be forgotten, " Be brothers! " Wliere 
now are the flags at half-mast? At New Orleans and Bos- 
ton, Chicago and Charleston. There is absolutely to-day 
no Republican party and no Democratic party. A new 
party has swallowed up all — a party of national sjnnpathy. 
The bulletins on the south side of Mason and Dixon's line 
have been as carefully watched as on the north side. We 
have been trying to arbitrate old difficulties and settle old 
grudges, yet the old quarrel has ever and anon broken out 
in a new place, but this requiem which shades the land 
forever drowns out all sectional discords. 

After all that has been done and said during the last 
eleven weeks, the people of the South will be welcome in 
all our homes as we shall be welcome in theirs. He who 
tries hereafter to kindle the old fires of hatred will find 
little fuel and no sulphurous match. Alabama and Massa- 
chusetts! stand up and be married. South Carolina and 
New York! join hands in betrothal. Georgia and Ohio! I 
pronounce you one. Whom God hath joined together let 
no man put asunder. The seal is set by the cold and ema- 
ciated hand of our dead President. No living man could 



I 



MIGHTIER DEAD THAN LIVING. 45 

have accomplished it. More of the sectional prejudices 
and the misinterpretations and the bitternesses of old war 
times have perished in the last eleven weeks than in all the 
seventeen years since the war ended, and so the dead which 
Gariield slew at his death were more than they which he 
slew in his whole life. 

VALUABLE LESSONS FOK ALL. 

Again, President Garfield's sickness and death have ed- 
ucated the world, as all his life and the life of a thousand 
men beside could not have educated it, in the wonders of 
the human body. For the last two months all Christen- 
dom have been studying anatomy and physiology. Never 
since the world stood hns there been so much known about 
respiration, about pulsation, about temperature, about gun- 
shot wounds, about febrile rise, about digestion, about con- 
valescence. The vast majority of the race have hitherto 
wandered about stupidly ignorant of this riiaster-piece of 
God, the human mechanism. The last eleven weeks have 
educated 10,000 nurses for the sick. The invalids of all 
lands for this experience will have better attendance, more 
kindness, more opportunity of restoration. ]^ever has 
there been such examination of dictionaries to find the 
meaning of a medical phrase. One new word of the 
morning bulletins has set the leaves of all the lexicons in 
America a-flutter. 

Since the time when David, the psalmist, probably re- 
turned from an Oriental dissecting-room, wrote the autop- 
sy, " we are fearfully and wonderfully made," and Solomon, 
who was wise in physiology as in everything else, called 
the spinal marrow the silver chdrd — (or " ever the silver 
chord be loosed") and called the head the ''golden bowl" 
because the skull is round like a bowl, and the membrane 
which contains the brain as yellow like gold — (or " the gol- 
den bowl be broken") — and called the veins of the human 



46 JAMES A. GARFIELD; 

body a pitcher, because they carry the crimson liquid from 
the heart, the fountain through all the organs of the body 
— ("or the pitcher be broken at the fountain") — and 
called the lungs a wheel, because they draw to itself and 
let go away like a well-bucket, and called the stomach the 
cistern — (the " wheel broken at the cistern,") — and showed 
that he knew what Harvey thought he was discovering 
thousands of j^ears after concerning the circulation of the 
blood, I say, since those obscure times down to these days, 
when physicians are busy instructing the people, and all 
medical colleges and all high schools are scattering physi- 
oloo-y and anatomical information, there never has been so 
much M'isdom on these subjects as to-day, and the most po- 
tent of all the doctors has been the sick and dying bed of 
your President. He had often spoken and lectured on 
these subjects in college and on the lyceum platform, and 
was a scientist in all these fields. But in the last eleven 
weeks he has overthrown more ignorance on these import- 
ant subjects than during all his half century of existence. 
" And so the dead which he slew in his death were more 
than they which he slew in his life." 

THE LIMITS OF SCIENCE AND SYMPATHY. 

Again, these last scenes must impress the world as no 
preachment ever did, that when our time comes to go the 
most energetic and skillful ph3'sician cannot hinder the 
event. Was there ever so much done to save a man's life 
as the life of President Garfield ? Is the season too hot ? 
There is manufactured for his sick room in August an Oc- 
tober day. Is he to be transported to the seaside ? All the 
wheels and all the steam whistles, and all the voices along 
the line of progress are hushed for 200 miles, and a new 
section of railroad is built to let him pass over. Added to 
the medical skill of the capital are the skill of Philadelphia 
and New York. 



MIGHTIER DEAD THAN LIVING. 47 

All the medical ingenuity of the last 300 years flashes its 
electric light upon the wound. Paris and London and 
Edinburgh applaud the treatment. He had all the courage 
that comes from the hand of a wife who was sure he would 
get well. He had physicians who did not stand with cold, 
scientific calculation, studying the case; but splendid men, 
whose hearts grew strong or faint as the patient's pulse was 
strong or faint, and they were as great nurses as they were 
great surgeons. But the doctors could not keep him. 
His wife could not keep him. All the arms of his chil- 
dren hung around his neck could not keep him. His great 
spirit pushes thera all back from the gates of life and soars 
away into the infinities. My Lord and my God! solemnize 
us with this consideration. 

My hearer, if you and I were sick, I am sure we would 
have good medical attendance and good nursing, plenty of 
watchers and plenty of attendants. The world is naturally 
very kind to the sick. We who have good houses would 
have sympathetic, though trembling, hands to hold ours 
in the last exigency. We all have those who love us as we 
love them, and when the time fixed by the merciful God 
arrives, we must be ofi'. 

There is no need of our getting nervous about it, or fret- 
tin o- about it. All we have to do is to keep our hearts right 
witli God and do our best, and then be as unfluttered as was 
our dying President. If after the mightiest surgery of 
America and the world, he had to surrender on Monday 
night at the stroke of the Death Angel, surely we cannot re- 
sist it. In the emphasizing of all these great truths, James 
A. Garfield is mightier lying on his catafalque at Cleveland 
than in the White House, receiving the honors of foreign 
embassage. 

Who knows but that this death will save millions of 
people for this world and the next? Fifty millions of peo- 
ple — nay, North and South, America and Europe and parts 



48 JAMES A. GARFIELD; 

of Asia — called to thoughts of mortality and the great fu- 
ture! Who knows but it may awaken whole nations from 
the death of sin to the life of the gospel? When, last week, 
I saw one line of mourning from Detroit, Mich., to Brook- 
lyn, I wondered if God would not use this great grief for 
the purification of the Nation. " O, Lord, revive Thy work 
in the midst of the Nation," Enough of the Sabbath- 
breakings and the impurity and the blasphemy and the offi- 
cial corruption in this country! By the scowl of this ter- 
rific event let these doijs of hell be driven back to their 
fiery kennels; against all these evils this Presidential giant 
is mightier dead than when alive. 

POOK MES. GARFIELD. t 

But, while the Nation has this comfort, there are three 
words that will leap to our lips, and they have been reiter- 
ated oftener than any other words for the past few days: 
poor Mrs. Garfield! More pathetic words I never read than 
those in the Friday newspapers which said that, with two 
of her children, she had gone over to the White House to 
get the property of her family, and have it sent to her home 
in Ohio. Can you imagine anything more full of torture 
than the walk through the rooms filled with associations of 
her husband's kindnesses, of her husband's anxieties, and of 
her husband's long-continued physical anguish? She had, 
with her womanly arms, fought by his side all the way up 
the steep of life. She had helped him in their economies 
when they were very poor; with her own needle clothing 
their family, with her own hands making him bread. When 
the world frowned upon him in the days of scandalous 
assault she never forsook his side. They had together won 
the battle, and had seated themselves at the very top to 
enjoy the victory. Then the blow came. What a reversal 
of fortune! From what midnoon to what midnight! It is 
said that this will kill her. I do not believe it. The God 



MIGHTIER DEAD THAN LIVING. 49 

who has helped her thus far will help her all the way 
through. When the broken circle gathers in the future 
days at the old home at Mentor, the niiglity God who pro- 
tected James A. Garfield at Chickamanga, and in the fiery 
hdl of many battles, will protect his wife, his children, and 
his old mother. 

Upon all the seven broken hearts let the grace descend ! 
What consolations they liave ! It was a great thing to 
have had such a son ! It was a great thing to have been 
thp wife of such a man ! It was a great thi ng to liave been 
tlie children of such a father ! While theirs and ours is 
the grief, I am glad on his account that he has gone. He 
had suffered enough. Enough the cuts of the lancets and 
the thrusts of the catheter, and the pangs of head and side 
and feet and back ! Ascend, O disenthralled spirit, and 
take thy place with those who " came out of great tribula- 
tion, and had their robes made white in tlie blood of the 
Lamb!" 

ELOQUENT PERORATION. 

This Samson of intellectual strength, this giant of moral 
power, had — like the one in the text — in other days slain 
the lion of wrathful passion, and had carried the gates of 
wrong from the rusted hinges. But the peroration of his 
life is stronger than any passage which went before. The 
dead which this giant slew in his death were more than 
those whom he slew in his life. May we all learn the prac- 
tical lessons with which our subject is filled ! Oh, behold 
the contrast between Friday, the 4th of March, 1881, and 
Friday, the 23d of September, 1881. On the former day 
AVashino-ton was ablaze with banners. Each State in the 
Union had its triumphal arch. Great men of this country 
and vast populations filled the streets; procession such as 
had never moved from the White House to the Capitol; 
military display that would have confounded hostile na- 
4 



50 JAMES A. GARB' I ELD. 

tions; tlie citj sliakea with caiinonadini? by da}', and the 
night on fire with pyrotechnics ! Thousands of all politi- 
cal parties who congratulated the President, pronounced 
that 4th of March the brio-hest dav that had ever shone on 
American institutions. That night, or soon after, in some 
room of the Presidential Mansion, I warrant you there 
assembled, husband and wife and five children and the 
aged mother, taking a long breath after the excitement of 
the inauguration. But, behold, Friday, Sept. 23d, the dead 
President in the rotunda, his bereaved wife at a iriend's 
house, a dangerously sick child 400 miles away at "W^'il- 
liamstown, Mass.; military on guaixi around the casket; 
hundreds of thousands of people gazing on the face so 
emaciated that none would know it; the poor, black woman 
falling on her knees beside the coffin, expressing the an- 
guish of speechless multitudes when she said: "Ob, dear! 
how he must have suffered!" Friday, 4th of March, 18S1! 
Friday, Sept. 23, 1881 ! Of all the words of comfort I have 
uttered to-day I have this lesson, which seems to sound out 
from the tramp of pall-bearers and from the rolling of the 
draped rail train moving westward, and from the open 
grave now waiting to receive our dead President: " Put not 
your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men, in whom 
there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he retnrneth to 
this earth; in that vef 3'^ day his thoughts perish." Fare 
thee well, departed chieftain! 



GARFIELD'S GREATNESS OF NATURE. 



By President Hinsdale, of Hiram CoLiiEGE, Ohio. 



Delivered before 'he soUlier; of Garfield's regiment (42nd Ohio), st .dents of Hiram 
College, and of Williams College, and Garfield's neighborhi od friends, in the 
First Presbyterian Chur.h Cleveland, Sept, 25th. 1881. 

AN UNPARAJLELLED HISTORY. 

Brethren in the Hiram Fellowship: Tliere was never 
but one man who could fitly preside at a Hiram re-union; 
and lie was the man whom we have gathered, not to honor, 
but to remember. With what felicity did he always open 
the service; with what aptness did he guid^ all our thouglits 
and feelings in right courses? Can you think of Garfield 
as presiding at his own obsequies, not knowing that they 
are his own? If you can, please to consider that I have re- 
signed the chair, and that he is present and presiding in 
our midst, 

James Abram Garfield: born November 19, 1881; a stu- 
dent at Hiram in August, 1851, at Williamstown in 1854; 
president of the Eclectic Institute in 1857; an Ohio sena- 
tor in 1859; a soldier in 1861; elected a representative in 
Congress in 18(52, and re-elected each two years succeeding 
until 1878; chosen United States Senator in January, 1880; 
nominated by the Eepublican party for the Presidency in 
June of the same year; elected to that high ofiice in No. 

(51) 



62 GARFIELD'S GREATNESS OF NATURE. 

vember following; inaugurated Chief Magistrate of the 
great Republic March 4, 1881; shot bj the assassin July 2; 
died at Long Branch September 19 — these facts and dates 
are the salient points of a carter that, in all the points of 
high character, noble achievement, lofty promises not yet 
fulfilled, beautiful romance, generous enthusiasm, pure am- 
bition, and a final euthanasy, have no parallel in the histo- 
ry of the world. 

Were I limited to one phrase in which to describe James 
A. Garfield, I should say: Greatness of nature. With 
what wealth of noble faculties was he endowed! Close obser- 
vation, high analytical and generalizing ability, solidity of 
judgment, depth and purity of feeling, strength of will, 
power of rhetorical exposition, artistic sense, poetic senti- 
ment, reverence of spirit, and noble courage — these are only 
a few of his great gifts. Were I allowed a second phrase 
of description, I should add: Richness of culture, fullness 
of knowledge, breadth of attainment, discipline of all the 
great faculties of the mind, ripeness of experience — are 
phrases that describe but imperfectly what study and the 
friction of life had done for him. Greatness of nature and 
richness of culture, together fitly describe his life and 
character. And this is in perfect harmony with his own 
maxim: "Every character is the joint product of nature 
and nurture." 

gaefield's many-sidedness. 

One of the most striking facts pertaining to this noble 
product of nature and nurture 'was his many-sidedness. 
Tennyson said of the Duke of Wellington : 

He stood four-square to every -wind that blew." 

This is a striking figure, and it admirably expresses the 
poet's thought. But General Garfield had many more sides 
than four. You can hardly take up a point of observation 



GARFIELD'S GREATNESS OF NATURE. 53 

where you will not discover something in him both in- 
teresting and striking. He seemed to face in all directions. 
He faced to law and policy, to science and literature, to 
arms and the camp, to religion and the Christian ministry, 
to the Senate and the forum, to the farm and the arts, to 
the social circle and domestic life, and in as many more 
directions as the diamond from its polished facets flashes 
its lustrous beauty. 

Bat, brethren in the Hiram Fellowship, we are not come 
together to remember the late President in all the phases 
ofliis great life and character. To-day we leave the soldier 
to soldiers, the lawyer to lawyers, the statesman to states- 
men. Mr. Garfield faced towards Hiram, and to us this 
will always be the most engaging side of his life. Here we 
recall the sound scholar, the great teacher, the discreet ad- 
ministrator, wise counsellor, sure guide, faithful friend, and 
noble man. Under circumstances that make the world weep, 
are we gathered to hold memorial service for him whose 
fourfold connection with our college, as pupil, teacher, pres- 
ident and trustee, has made the humble name of Hiram 
known all over the land. 

Kajud as was General Garfield's march upon the nation 
still the public as a whole was slow in finding him out. 
They never did fully find him out until his life was ebbing 
away to the music made by the Atlantic sobs. Nay, they 
have not fully done so yet. But I may fairly claim that 
the students of Hiram had discovered his greatness long 
before the year 1860. They were, in fact, the original dis- 
coverers of James A. Garfield. Years ago a Hiram poet 
sang at one of our reunions : 

" Right proud are we the world should know 
As hero him we long ago 
Found truest helper, friend." 



1 



54 GARFIELD'S GREATNESS OF NATURE. 

YOUNG GARFIELD AT HIRAM. 

Tonn^^ Mr. Garfield first came to Hiram in August, 1851. 
The next school year he became one of the teachers, and 
continued such until 1854, when lie went to college. On 
his graduation, in 1856, he returned as teacher, and the 
next year became the principal. From this time to August, 
1861, when he left his class room for the camp, he was the 
head of Hiram. Within these years, especially lies the ser- 
vice that we should remember. I can only say, in general, 
that it was fully marked by all the great qualities of his 
later life, wealth of knowledge, buoyancy of spirits, dignity 
of carriage, wisdom in counsel, kindness and justice, faith- 
fulness of friendship. I sketch the outline and leave it for 
you to fill in the picture. 

Of my own obligations to him, first as a pupil, next as a 
CO- teacher, then as friend — nay as a brother, I cannot 
trust myself to speak. Only he who chanted the elegy 
over the fallen Jonathan could do justice to the theme: 
" How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle. 
O, Jonathan, thou wert slain in thine high places. I am 
distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant 
hast thou been to me; thy love to me was wonderful, pass- 
ing the love of women." 

Garfield's simplicity. 

One of the ver}- grandest phases of this grand man was 
his great simplicity of character. This he retained unsul- 
lied to the end. Nothing could corrode or taint his original 
honest fiber. Principalities and powers, dynasties and do- 
minion, were nothing to hiui in comparison with the fellow- 
ship of his early friends. His love for the old school con- 
tinued to the very end, lie last visited Hiram not long 
before his final departure for Washington. He made one 
of his beautiful speeches in the chapel. He spoke of the 



• GARFIELD'S GREATNESS OF NATURE. 55 

memories that lay under the snow; said never since he 
went to the army had he left Hiram with similar feelings; 
said he was about to sail out into unknown seas, but that he 
felt that, on the Hiram promontory, he had built a cairn 
from which he could draw supplies throughout the voyage. 
He called for the singing of "Ho! Eeapers of Life's Har- 
vest," joined heartily in the song, shook hands with all 
present, and was driven away homeward. 

HIS LAST LETTER TO PRESIDENT HINSDALE. 

The last autograph letter that he wrote me came in the 
midst of the great political tempest, and was in these words. 

" Dear Burke: I throw you a line across the storm to let you know- 
that I think, when I have a moment between breaths, of the dear old 
quiet and peace of Hiram and Mentor. Let me hear from you. Inclose 
your letter in an envelope to Crete. As ever yours, 

J. A. Garfield." 

How he longed for this " dear old quiet and peace " in 
all storms, was well known to all his closer friends, and how 
he sighed for it as he lay upon his bed of pain in the heart 
of "Washington and by the shore of the far-resounding sea, 
the reporters have told the world. 



TUE NOBLE WIFE. 

There is one person who must not be forgotten here. 
And who is this ? You all anticipate my answer. She is 
a Hiram student, one of our Fellowship, the lamented Pres- 
ident's noble wife. Hiram claims two thousand daughters, 
many of whom have done virtuously, but Lucretia excels 
them all. Wheresoever his history shall be read in the 
whole world, there shall also be told what this woman has 
done for a memorial for her. In beiialf of all who are in 
the Hiram Fellowship, I wish to thank Mrs. Garfield for her 
heroic devotion, unfaltering courage and imn)ortal hope in 
the sick chamber of her husband. It was not for yourself 



56 GARFIELD'S GREATNESS OF NATURE. 

and your children alone that you wrought, you wrought for 
the Nation, for the world, and for us. We recognize, but 
can never pay our deep debt of obligation. 

But it is all over. Black care, that perclied like the night 
raven in our homes the evening of July 2, sits in them still. 
In 1865 T stood with General Garfield in the pouring rain 
on Dr. Ii<jbison's door steps, on Superior street, April 28, 
when the hearse of President Lincoln passed by to the pub- 
lic square. Yesterday I passed the same place as I fol- 
lowed Garfield's hearse. To-day his remains lie wliere Lin- 
coln's lay. And it is left for us, and it is left for all his 
friends, to adjust ourselves to a world that contains no liv- 
ing Garfield. lie has left us his life and his spirit. Storm, 
and war, and strife are all over, and he has entered upon a 
quiet and a peace that neither Hiram nor Mentor knew. 
He is thrice happy and doubly immortal; immortal in life 
and immortal in death. 

A MYSTERV. 

Finally, let me ask, why was all this permitted? Wliy 
was the assassin allowed to strike him down? Why were 
not the prayers of the people granted? Why did the night- 
raven never lift his wings and fly away? Why was the 
Most High deaf, and why did the heavens give no sign? 
What a strange providence! How can it fit into any plan 
of Divine wisdom and love! Thus far I have scarcely tried 
to answer these questions, though they have pressed upon 
me many an hour. It is a great test of faith in God. But 
Garfield believed in God. He thought that an unceasing 
purpose runs through the ages and comprehends the lives 
of men; and I think so, too. Still, hitherto I have been 
able to do little more than say, " Lord, I believe; help 
Thou mine unbelief! " For myself, I must leave the prob- 
lem to the future. History will no doubt discover and dis- 
close what passes our power to comprehend. 



GARFIELD- S GREATNESS OF NATURE. 57 

I have dwelt upon the darker side of the great tragedy. 
True, there are great elements of good in the story. These 
I hope will be duly emphasized, for we must not dwell too 
much upon the cypress. In Garfield's young days at Hiram, 
when he was full of bounding life, this saying of Emerson's 
was a great favorite with hira : "To-day is a king in dis-^ 
guise. Strip off his robes and enjoy him while he is here." 
And I think I hear him who presides over us, in spirit, say: 
''Be not so carried away with grief, so paralyzed with sor- 
row, so blind with weeping that you cannot discover the 
o-ood that is in it all." Still for one I must declare : 

" I falter where I firmly trod, 
* And falling with my weight of cares 

Upon the great world's altar— stairs, 
That slope thro' darkness up to God. 

" I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope 
And gather dust and chaff, and call 
To what I feel is Lord of all, 
And faintly trust the larger hope." 



GARFIELD'S BEAUTIFUL LIFE. 



By Hon. J. H. Rhodes— His Schoolmate, of Cleveland. 



Delivered at the Hiram Memorial Sercice, Sept 25, 1881. 
GARFIELD AT HIRAM. . 

To THOUSANDS of men and women these words bring 
swift and bappy visions of the golden age, the world over, 
when memory is not busy with the dead past, but when 
life is eager, joyous, standing on tip-toe to catch each new 
bright morning. Then surely it was true, as he often said, 
" Each day is a king in disguise." 

It always seems to me now, that from boyhood he was al- 
most conscious of his high destiny in life. He was born 
to lead and command. He captured all hearts as naturally 
as he breathed. He could not help winning them if he 
would. 

It is not now the time for critical analysis or historic 
preciseness. We see him only througli the mist of tears. 
We cry out in our despair, like infants in the night crying 
for the light, but generations hence his memory and his 
life, hallowed by the lapse of years, and looked at through 
a long line of succeeding events, like some grand moun- 
tain peak, viewed from afar, will not be less grand, will 
rise into the heavens with equal glory as now. 

To many who are here to-day, visions come again of Gar- 

(58) 



« 



GARFIELD'S BEAUTIFUL LIFE. 59 

field in the class-room or the chapel at Hiram. They see a 
fair-faced, blne-ej'ed young man in the robust vigor of early 
manhood, overflowing with animal spirits and breezy, 
cheerful good nature, standing before a class, and irradiat- 
ing the room with the grand enthusiasms for knowledge 
and ideas which made each pupil feel as if he were in an 
atmosphere highlj^ electrified, out of which he passed, feel- 
ing that life had new meanings to him, and longing for the 
return of the next lesson. The crayon often became a 
magic wand with which new worlds were disclosed to the 
young explorer in search of new continents. 

Observe all things, and question all men, were maxims 
he daily illustrated. No man was so humble, he oftei: re- 
marked, but something new can be learned bv talkino' with 
him. With all men he was, therefore, social. If he did 
not learn anything from another, young Garfield had al- 
ready learned that ideas can only be clearly held when they 
can be clearly clothed in words, and, as long as he could 
find a good listener, he delighted to pour forth his own 
thoughts in words, thus crystalizing ideas and opinions 
already formed. Many a man has wondered at the wealth 
of conversation with which he was flooded. Many a small 
audience thought it strange he should speak as abundantly 
and as eloquently to them as if there were thousands to be 
moved. All men were foils for his own swift blades, and 
so he grew daily in strength and breadth. 

He died young, but he was born at the right time. His 
young manhood began with the great stir in modern 
thought which had already revolutionized the world. The 
age of invention and discovery had just begun to usher 
into our modern life the triumphs of electricity and steam. 
The ferment of scientific research had opened up a thou- 
sand new fields of inquiry. The conflict between old de- 
cays and new creations in the world of politics was at hand. 
Literature had just had a new birth, and the modern period 



'GO GARFIELD'S BEAUTIFUL LIFE. 

of books and newspapers had been inaugurated. I can re- 
member how, in 1855, 1856, 1857, 1858, 1859 and 1860, the 
very air seemed surcliarged with the new life that already 
threatened storms and hurricanes. I never lieard him wish 
he had been born in another acre. He did not sio-h that his 
lot had not been cast amid the stirring scenes of ancient 
Rome or modern Europe. He was born in America and 
for America, and he lived long enough to see the dawn of 
the modern life and thought, full-orbed and high, advanced 
in tlie day. He went away from Hiram at twenty-four to 
"Williamstown, to return in the fall of 1856, with the bap- 
tism of fire from that new heaven on his heart and head. 
For two years after his graduation at AVilliams we 
Toomed together at Hiram. The old office in the orchard is 
more hallowed to me by those two years of companionship 
than any temple made by human hands. It was bo'^h an 
-education and an inspiration to hear him at this period. 

PLEASING INCIDENTS. 

It was after his return from Williams Colleo'e that he 
began to preach. Preaching was a vent for the overflow of 
his energies and activity. In preaching he had a range of 
thought that gave more scope than the school room. The 
effect of two years at the feet of that great teacher, Mark 
Hopkins, was very marked. His thoughts ranged through 
wider circles, whilst the distinctive dogmas of the church 
at Williamstown did not seem to have attached themselves 
strongly ; the philosophic and metaphysical methods of 
President Hopkins became a part of his own methods. 
The result of this was that his preaching had a new charm 
for the people who heard him. 

It was during the years that followed his return from 
Williamstown that he found so much inspiration and 
strength from that remarkable woman, Almeda A. Booth, 
whose intellectual grasp and range of thought were only 



i 



GARFIELD'S BEAUTIFUL LIFE. 61 

second in Hiram to his own. He owed much to her, and 
he has made public acknowledgment in a beautiful tribute 
to that woman, whom he compared to Margaret Fuller. 

Whilst teaching at Hiram and preaching in various places 
in Northern Ohio, his mind had turned to the law as a life 
profession, and among the legacies I have of t'lis period are 
synopses made by us of the first two volumes of Bouvier's 
Institutes. The law, in its great principles, its broad gen- 
eralizations, its sacred regard for life and property, its con- 
servative influence and power in maintaining order and 
peace in society, bad a great charm to his mind, and I dis- 
tinctly remember that he would synopsize the institutes so 
thoroughly as to cover every doctrine laid down. In sub- 
sequent years he achieved distinction for his success in the 
law. But politics, in the higher and almost forgotten mean- 
ing of the word, had become a subject of great interest to 
him. 

The great struggle in the land had already begun, which 
ended in the downfall of American slavery. He was 
intensely absorbed in this great controversy, and soon 
entered as State Senator, upon that public career with which 
the world is so familiar. Into this he poured his energies, 
as he had formerly into teaching and preaching. 

Here, too, in Hiram was continued that devotion to the 
little woman whose name is revered in every home in the 
civilized world. It began a few vears earlier at Chester. 
Writing to me in 1871, in the midst of his public life, and 
nearly thirteen years after his marriage, he said: 

" There is not a day when I do not certainly fear such 
completeness will not be allowed to last long on this earth." 
"Yerily, she was the rainbow on his storm of life, the anchor 
on its sea." 

His mind was imaginative, and his temper poetical. The 
fresh beauties of "In Memoriam" were his delight, and 



62 GARFIELD'S BEAUTIFUL LIFE. 

thousands of times did I liearliira recite, in tliose earlj days' 
the passage beginning: " The tide flows down, the wave again 
is vocal in its wooded walls; my deeper sorrow also falls, 
and I can speak a little there." 

The Cuyahoga, above the rapids at Hiram, will forever 
be associated with liim, where once we stopped our horse 
and carriage on the old bridge, and looked up the stream 
and saw from the tall trees on either side what Tennyson 
meant by "wooded walls." 

I must be pardoned for not dwelling further, as there are 
many you wish to hear. It is hard to find any reconcilia- 
tion to the fact that men say he is dead, and that his bodily 
form will no more be visible on earth. It may be that his 
outward frame maj- be resolved again to dust, and become, 
in the long processes of nature, flowers and fruit, clouds or 
frost, but I never can conceive of him as dead. I do not 
belive he is dead. Death has no definition or limitations 
■which can include so great a soul. Immortality was no 
myth with him. His voice is still heard. 



THE NATION'S FRIEND. 



By Henry Watterson (Editor Louisville Courier- Journal). 



Delivered in JeflFersonville, Ind., Sept. 26, 188L 
HEART TO HEART. 

To-day, for the first time in fifty, nje, in sixty years, the 
people of the United States are one with one another, and 
stand hand in hand, and heart to heart, by the open grave 
of their murdered President. This vast assemblage, these 
paraphernalia of public lamentation, these muftled drums 
and mournful cadences of dead marches — your own sad 
faces and tearful eyes — are not the offerings of a locality, 
nor the offsprings of party feeling. They are universal. 
Everywhere throughout our dear land — and not alone where 
men are wont to congregate — everywhere — and not any- 
Wiiere broken by geographic stops or sectional lines — every- 
where, in the market places and the churches, in the great 
mansions of the rich and the humble cots and cabins of the 
poor, and on the rock-ribbed ridges where the sumach and 
the maple twine their boughs in pious benediction over the 
bended head of New England to the rice-farms and cotton- 
fields of the kneeling South, where the live-oak stands as a 
guard of honor and the magnolia sends its fragrance up to 
God — everywhere, and with all classes, all sects, all condi- 
tions, all ages, but one sight is to be seen this day, but one 

(63) 



64 THE NATION'S FRIEND. 

sound is to be heard — the solemn march, the solemn music, 
which bears to their last earthly home the mortal remains 
of James A. Garfield. 

Nor is this grievous spectacle of grief the product of our 
country only, and confined within her borders and to her 
people. The stranger arriving on our shores to-day would 
not need to ask, with Hamlet: 

" —Who is it that they follow, 
And with such maimed rights?" 

Across the seas, as if borne by the magnetic tides that in 
electric currents ebb and flow beneath the waves, the sorrow 
of America has thrilled the heart of Europe; nor yet there 
alone among crowned heads, uncertain of their crowns, and 
courts, unknowing when their turn may come, since murder 
strikes so close and indiscriminate; but high among the 
crags, where the free Switzer sings of liberty, and in the 
storied groves and sweet meadows of Old England, where 
bells that rang for Hampton and the Iron Duke, for Words- 
worth, the gentle poet, and Albert, the good Prince, are 
ringing into Anglo-Saxon song and legend, the name of 
James A. Garfield. 

"Why, why is all this ? I answer, because he was a man, 
and every inch a man, who stood as the representative of 
manhood and the State. 

" What constitutes a State ? 

Not high-raised battlement nor labored mound, 

Thick wall and moated gate. 

• « * * * • 

No ; men, high-minded men. 

With powers so far above dull brutes endued 

In forest, brake, qt den, 

As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude; 

Men who their duties know. 

But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain." 

The blow that struck down Garfield, struck at the State, 
and, though it missed the State, it hit the man, and, through 



THE NATION S FRIEND. 65 

him, touched the manhood and the womanhood, jea, and 
the childhood, of our time ; and so, we are come to do honor 
to his memory, to take comfort one from another in our 
sorrow, on this, as it were, his last day upon earth, our hero 
and our martyr — who went down because he was clad with 
our sovereignty — our Peasant Chieftain — whose glory 
America gives to the world ! 

WATTEKSON LOVED HIM. 

I knew him well. I knew him, and I know now that I 
loved him. He was a man of an ample soul, with the 
strength of a giant, the courage of a lion, and the heart of 
a dove. Never lived a man who yearned more for the ap- 
proval of his fellow men, who felt their anger more. Never 
lived a man who struggled harder to realize Paul's ideal, 
and to be "all things to all men." Nor did ever the char- 
acter sketched by Paul find a nobler example, for he was 
"blameless, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, apt to teach, 
not given to filthy lucre." No one without the little fam- 
ily circle of relatives and friends in which he lived will ever 
know how a certain dismal, though in truth trivial, episode 
in his career cut him to the soul. Born a poor man's son, 
to live and die a poor man, with opportunities unbounded 
for public pillage — with licensed robbery going on all 
about him, and he pinched for the bare means to maintain 
himself, his wife and his little ones, with decency and com- 
fort — to be held up to the scorn of men as one not honest 
He is gone now, and, before he went, he had outlived the 
wounds which party friends, alike with party foes, had 
sought to put upon his honor; and mayhap, to-day, some- 
where among the stars, he looks down upon the world, and 
sees at last how false, how sordid, how selfish and unreal 
were the assaults of those in whose way he stood. It is a 
pleasure to me to reflect, amid these gloomy scents, that 

some friendly words of mine gratified him at a. moment 
5 



66 THE NATION'S FRIEND. 

when be suiTered most. Not in the last campaign, for it 
would have been a crime in me to have hesitated then. 
But away back, when no vision of the Presidency had 
crossed the disc of his ambition, and when the cruelest 
blows were struck from behind. 

INCIDENTS. 

It is also a pleasure to me to remember the last time I 
saw him. It was an all-night session of the House, when, 
in company with Joseph liawley, of Connecticut, Eandall 
Gil"»son, of Louisiana, and Eandolph Tucker, of Virginia, 
we took possession of the committee-room of Proctor 
Knott, who joined us later, and buried all bickerings and 
jars in happy forgetfulness of section and party, and in 
iovous return to nature, and the contemplation 

" Of poesy and philos 'phy, 

Arts which I love, for tliey, my friend, were thine." 

I do well remember how buoyant he was that night in 
spirit and how robust in thought; how full of suggestion, 
quick in repartee, unaffected and genial ever; how deh'ght- 
ed to lay aside the statesman and the partisan, and be a boy 
again; and how loth he was, with the rest, to recross the 
narrow confines which separate the real and ideal, and to 
descend into the hot abyss below. I could not have gone 
thence to blacken that man's character any more than do 
another deed of shame; and, Pe publican though he was, 
and party chief, he had no truer friends than the brilliant 
Yirginian, whom he loved like a brother, and the eminent 
Louisianian, whose counsels he habitually sought. 

I refer to an incident, unimportant in itself, to illustrate 
a character which unfolded to the knowledo^e of the world 
through affliction and death, has awakened the admiration 
and love of mankind, i' All know now that he was a man of 
spotless integrity ; who might have been rich by a single 



THE NATION'S FRIEND. 67 

deflection, but who died poor ; who broadened and rose in 
hif^ht with each rise in fortune ; who was not less a scholar 
because he had wanted early advantages ; and who, not yet 
fifty, leaves as a priceless heritage to his countrymen tlie 
example of how God-given virtues of the head and heart 
may be employed to the glory of God and the use of men 
by one who makes all things subordinate to the develop- 
ment of the good within him. | I do not mean to be pane- 
gyrical. I mean to be just, for I would draw from this dire 
'experience its true lesson, as that relates to our private no 
less than our public life. 

On all these points we think together. There are not 
two opinions. We stand jipon common ground. We shall 
separate and go hence, and each shall take his way. Inter- 
ests shall clash; beliefs shall jar; party-spirit shall lift its 
horrid head and interpose to chill and cloud our better na- 
tures. That is but a condition of our being. We are mor- 
tal and we live in a free land. Out of discussion and dis- 
sention ends are sliapen, we rough-hewing. In spite of us, 
however, occasions come which remind us that we have a 
country and are countrymen, which tell us we are a 
people bound together by many kindred ties. No matter 
for our quarrels. They will pass away. No matter for our 
mistakes. They shall be mended. But yesterday we were 
at war one with the other. The war is over. But yester- 
day we were arrayed in angry party conflict. Behold how 
its passions sleep in the grave with Garfield. 

I am here to-dav to talk to you of him, and through 
him, and in his memory and honor, ta talk of our country. 
He was its Chief Magistrate, our President, representative 
of things common to us all, stricken down in the fullness 
of "life and hope by wanton and aimless assassination. He 
fell like a martyr; he sufiered like a hero; he died like a 
saint. 

Be his grave forever and aye a trysting place for the 



68 THE NATION'S FRIEND. 

people, and from the sods that burst thereon to let the 
violets through, spring flowers of peace and love for all the 
people. Citizens, the flag which waves over us was his 
flag, and it is our flag. Soldiers, standing beneath that 
flag and in this armed fort of the Republic, I salute 
your flag and his flag reverently. It is my flag. 

I thank God, and I shall teach my children to thank God, 
that it did not go down amid the fragments of a divided 
country, but that it floats to-day, though at half-mast, as a 
symbol of union and liberty, assuring and reassuring us 
that, though the heart that conceived the words be cold 
and the lips that uttered them be dumb, " God reigns, and 
the Government at Washington still lives." 



THE CROWN OF MARTYRDOM. 



By Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. 



Delivered in PeekskiU, N.Y., Sept. 23d, 1881. 
A WORLD IN MOUKNING. 

The time will come when we shall have a right to expect 
from competent minds a careful and elaborate biography 
of President Garfield. It ill becomes us at this time, when 
we are all under a cloud, in deep sympathy with one an- 
other, that I should take the time in flights of fancy and in 
eloquent periods. This is a funeral service. "We are gath- 
ered together to-night as a household would be gathered 
where the father had been stricken down. We are not 
alone in our sorrow. The world to-day mourns. Not even 
when Lincoln was slain was there such universal sympathy. 
America was then disesteemed by many, little esteemed by 
more, loved by few; but now no other nation commands 
more universal respect, and respect not for the trappings 
of monarchy, not for governmental display, but because she 
has become at once full of strength, brave, honest, and no- 
ble; and there is not an organized Government in the uni- 
versal world that has not had its pulse quickened by the 
impending sorrow that has come upon us. Crowned heads, 
chief Ministers, men of Legislatures everywhere, and Par- 
liaments, the noblest and the highest, and chiefly the noble 

(69) 



70 THE CROWN OF MARTYRDOM. 

Queen of our Mother Country, all have taken ho me this sor- 
row into their own household and made it their own, and 
to-niglit we are one with the English speaking world ; we 
are one witli the civilized "world, speaking in every tongue, 
but with one heart and one thought of sorrow and sym- 
path}'. The brave man has gone. 

I would not say that President Garfield was endowed be- 
fore all men, but he inherited the best gifts tJiat God ever 
gives to man when he is born, for that which his mother 
bestowed upon him was a wholesome constitution, an 
equable temperament, and a noble example of virtue, in- 
dustry, and frugality. These were as birth-gifts given to 
him, and he did not fritter them away. From his earliest 
life he has shown the one trait of high ideals and persever- 
ance. He fought against poverty and trod it nnder foot. 
He rose from obscurity, and shone as a star. He fought 
against every adverse circumstance. When the country 
demanded that none of her sons should quail, he pressed 
forward, and his military history is marked with the same 
traits that are so conspicuous throughout his whole career; 
and now he that stood where mighty batteries were belch- 
ing forth death on everj^ side, and on the Held wliere thou- 
sands of bullets were' flying, has fallen beneath the single 
bullet of a dastardly assassin, and when he lay upon the 
bed of sickness, the riame traits were conspicuous. He met 
death, and grappled with it. For a long time it looked as 
if he would master death. Alas! no. He was ripe. The 
measure of his glorv had been filled to him. Tiiere was 
given to him, as to the illustrious Lincoln, the crown of 
martyrdom. 

There is not a man worthy of the name that does not just 
as much honor the name of Garfield as if he had lieloed to 
elect him. Thene is no more conflict, only the calm of uni- 
versal peace. I look with admiration on the man, with 



THE CROWN OF MARTYRDOM. 71 

profound sympathy upon those who are nearest to him, but 
even greater admiration upon the Nation of which he was 
the inustrious head. He was taken as if in a moment, but 
nothing fell with him— no law, no practice, no institution, 
no interest. The vast machinery did not even stop for one 
single moment; every wheel in its place still went on, for 
the Government of the United States is the people of the 
United States, and no man can move or assume an authority 
which restricts or supplants the universal citizenship. He 
has left his post to another and an honored man, for whom 
let us invoke all sympathy from a Divine source while he 
takes upon himself the onerous duties that he must perform. 
But Garfield has ascended. We may weep for him that 
shall never weep another tear. We may crown our rever- 
ence with all tokens of admiration, but in the Divine 
presence he now stands. What would be to him the tribute 
of the round world when he has ringing in his ears the 
command of the Father to ascend higher ! Sweeter than a 
mother's voice, sweeter than earth's most affectionate tone, 
is the voice of God in approval. 

FOUR CONSPICUOUS NAMES. 

Four names in the line of presidents will stand conspic- 
uous in history— Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Gar- 
field. They have each been men of mark and left their 
impress on the National character. In the few weeks that 
lie presided over the destinies of this people he showed the 
possession of yet deeper power than any had anticipated; 
had attracted universal attention and had given promise of 
the richest harvest in the after days. He had proven him- 
self a nobleman. He had gained a name for all time- 
as an officer in the military service, as a member of the 
greatest Legislatures, as President, as a Christian gentle- 
man, as a canonized Martyr. For him no more toil. We 
go on still treading the dusty path. For us are sorrows to 



72 THE CROWN OF MARTYRDOM. 

be nobly borne; for us weariness; for us sickness, infirmity, 
and, by-and-by, death. These arc no more for him. He 
walks the golden street, has thrown down the mantle of 
doubt and trouble, and put on the robes of grace; he has 
gained the rest for which we all pray; he has gone to his 
God. 1 join with you as fellow-townsmen, for Pcekskill is 
my home. I know that it is not the scene of my chief 
labors, but T desire, when I am incapacitated for labor, to 
live here and then die among you, and I shall deem it a 
privilege here to-night to open my heart and let streams 
of syrapatliy flow with yours, to ponder with you on the 
lesson that we have that he, the hero of great or less renown, 
in his death his works will follow him, and that srood and 
noble deeds never die. 



GARFIELD'S GREATNESS. 



[The following is the address of Henry Ward Beecher on President Garfield, de- 
llyered in Plymouth Congregational Church, Brooklyn, Sept. 25, 1881.] 



THE PRAYER. 



In his opening prayer, Mr. Beecher said: "Thou hast 
laid Thy hand heavily upon this Nation. Thy servant 
Thou hast taken to Thyself in a way that fills us with 
shame and horror. We have thanksgiving to offer in our 
sorrow that there is no more turmoil and torment for him, 
no more strife for life on a couch of suftering, that rest and 
eternal blessedness are finally his. We thank Thee that 
there has been no shock, no disorganizing of the affairs 
of this great Nation by this event. We believe that 
Thou art anointing this great people, and by this great 
sorrow raising us to a higher plane. For Thy handmaid, 
the mother, for the wife and counselor, for the children, we 
pour out our prayers, and beg Thee to take them into the 
arms of Thy consolation. Let it come it to pass that they 
may rest in the bosom of love of this great people; that 
they may be cherished and consoled. Bless Thy servant 
who has suddenly been called to fill an exalted station. 
Spare his life; defend him from harm; may he have the 
wisdom of God to guide his footsteps. Grant in this 
emergency that he may gird himself up, not in his own 

(73) 



74 GARFIELD'S GREATNESS. 

strength, nor in the strength of counselors, but in the 
strength of the Lord Jesus." 

Mr. Beecher read selections from the 102d and 103d 
Psalms: — "I said, Oh my God, take me not away in the 
midst of my days." "As for man, his days are as grass; as 
a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind 
passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall 
know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from ever- 
lasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His 
righteousness unto children's children ; to such as keep His 
covenant, and to those that remember his commandments 
to do them." 

THE DISCOURSE SHORTNESS OF LIFE. 

How short is human life at the longest. We spend years 
in gathering knowledge, and die just as we get ready to 
use it. We learn how to live only to pass on. Yet we are 
not allowed to live even the short life allotted to man. A 
full life is accounted fourscore years, yet the average one 
is not more than twoscore. The babe grows up to matu- 
rit}', but tlie web is broken, and man stumbles on the 
threshold of his usefulness. Moralists and poets have filled 
the world with sad strains at the shortness of life, and to- 
day we stand before a strange manifestation of Providence. 
Why is it that the good man dies, apparently'' in the be- 
ginning of his usefulness ? Why is it that the hero to 
whom we pinned our faith has passed away ? We had 
gone through the war victoriously, and had lived through 
reconstruction; we had fought the fight against greenback 
money and won; we had just entered on the skirts of our 
promised land, when our leader, our Joshua, was stricken 
down. 

Garfield's greatness. 

He was a man who united the best elements of his fellow 



GARFIELD'S GREATNESS. 75- 

conntrj'-men; he was firm, yet gentle, and in him the lion 
and the lamb seemed to lie down together; he was not an 
empty partisan, but he looked at all questions with a calm 
and unbiased mind; he had a love for learning, and he had 
acquired it by hard and incessant labor; he had been bred 
upon hardship and poverty, and he had lived by the sweat 
of his brow; moreover, he had been a preacher of righteous- 
ness. With almost the first sound of the trumpet he had 
gone forth to defend his country, and he earned a name as 
one of her leading generals. Later he entered the highest 
councils of the Nation, and from that time on his name was 
found connected with every advanced measure. 

At length the Republic called Garfield to its highest 
office, because he was the very man for the place. Call the 
names of all the men honorable and useful in the courts, the 
army, and the navy, or in mercantile life — was there any 
one of them more needed than he was ? Four months only 
he presided over the Nation, but his administration gave 
splendid promises of usefulness. But that bright vision 
has vanished. "Garfield has been shot !" flashed along the 
telegrapli wires, and the whole world wept with his family. 
The drama is now ended. For weeks he lay fighting for 
his life. There were no more laurels to put on his brouv 
and God took him. After twenty years the train bore him 
westward. He who entered Washington four months before 
amid the clanging of bells and the joyous shouting of the 
people was borne away in silence. Such a funeral march 
as that was never seen. Along its route men forgot to 
sleep, and watched its passage at all times of the night with 
bowed heads and in silence. "Blessed are the dead that 
die in the Lord." For them there are no more burdens or 
sorrows. Around the burial place of this man let mothers 
gather with their children, to teach them to be brave and ta 
be honest. 



76 GARFIELD'S GREATNESS. 

COMFORT IN SOEROW. 

But let us turn to the sublime God from these humsn 
measurements. What is time to Him? Man's life is like 
the bubble on the sea, which rises to the surface and gleams 
brightly in the sun, but only to burst. God measures all 
■events by eternity, so that which may seem to us to be con- 
fusion is a benefit in His eyes. And so some benefit may 
arise to us from this disaster. Sometimes a single act may 
outweigh the rest of a man's life. So from Garfield's death 
we may gain something, although not in an exactly similar 
way, Washington is revered for his life, but how much 
more elevated his memory would have been if he had met 
with a tragic death for his country. Wise and gentle as 
•our Savior's life was. His death was of much more impor- 
tance. Although we hoped to reap so much from Garfield's 
life, we may reap even more from his death. The North 
and South have felt for the first time the healing balm of 
mutual eympath}^ and grief. The wounds left by the war, 
and not yet healed over, will be mollified. There has been 
no division in the Nation's sorrow, and it's whole heart has 
beaten together. Charleston has felt the loss as bitterly ab 
Philadelphia, and New Orleans has been as sincere in her 
grief as New York. Nor have party lines divided this 
fiympathy. 

UNITY OF MANKIND. 

But still more striking than the unity of the Nation in 
its grief has been the unity of mankind. When Lincoln 
was shot, the world was shocked rather than grieved. 
England had not yet learned wisdom, while the hands of 
France were still red with the blood of Mexico. But now 
no nation has been so obscure that it has not expressed its 
sorrow. From Russia and Turkey on the East to Japan 
on the West, there has been a common sorrow. I think 



GARFIELD'S GREATNESS. TT 

that never before has the heart-blood of the world been 80. 
stirred. But if this is the first time, may it not be the 

This sympathy had also amoral comfort. Were there 
ever before so many prayers offered up? The Mussulman, 
the Catholic, the Protestant-all prayed to God as they 
knew Him, and in their own formality. But did God re- 
fuse to answer them, and is prayer a fiction? In the lower 
sphere God gave no answer; but in the higher one He did 
Is there no other answer of prayer save in continuance ot 
life^^ Could we not be more fortified and strengthened by 
President Garfield's death than by his life? Is this not a 
more sublime answer to our prayers? We see people dymg 
everywhere; but except in the case of near relations or 
friends we scarcely feel that death is an affiiction. But 
why should Garfield not die? Because we lookea upon 
him as a tree from which we should gather only good fruits 
But is it not better to have its branches raised higher so 
that it will benefit the whole world? 

INSTRUCTIVE LESSONS. 

Tliere are some lessons to be drawn from President 
Garfield's death, and there is one which I wish particularly 
ambitious young men should profit by. Our Government 
may be compared to a stately mansion which many are 
desirous of entering. Some walk boldly up to its front 
entrance and go in; but others seek to enter by the back 
way from which all the refuse comes. By.the nature ot 
our Constitution we are obliged to send men to our legisla- 
tive bodies, and sometimes the ones selected are not he 
most suitable persons. But we cannot bear to have the 
public ideal destroyed and the opinion prevail that he who 
would enter politics must give up his honor, and advance 
by ignoble means. And when we behold a man struggling 
honorably for a political career and equipping himselt 



78 GARFIELD'S GREATNESS. 

as a statesman, it is an example that honor and integ- 
rity are not incompatible with political advancement, 
and that man's life will be an example as Washington's 
has been. 

In the simplicity of onr habits, there has been no need 
of protection around our Presidents. And it is still true 
that public opinion, with us, is better than the guard of 
any European monarch. There is no sense here of wrongs 
inflicted upon generation after generation to stir men up 
to madness against their rulers. Our laws are of our own 
making, and can be changed. Then only a short time must 
pass before we are freed from the most hateful ruler. Yet 
our legislation is incomplete. I would not have a guard 
if I were the President, for I had rather take the bullet 
than be protected from my fellow-citizens. But an attempt 
on the life of a man whom we have elected as our leader, 
and upon whom we all rely, should be treason, and its pun- 
ishment should be death. But let this be done by law. 
'No man has any more right to assassinate Guiteau than he 
had to assassinate President Garfield. Let us stand for the 
administration of justice. When the Rebellion ceased, 
neither bullet, sword nor halter slew one man, and the 
moderation of our people impressed the whole world. 
And if Guiteau should die unlawfully there would be a 
spot upon our escutcheon. I have been angrj'- with the 
miscreant, but I have obeyed the command of the Lord 
not to let the sun go down on my anger. Indignation has 
had its day; now let law have its day. I have a right to 
speak thus of Guiteau. He once was with us, but not of 
us. He sat in this sanctuary among the worshipers. 
Robert Burns expressed a faint hope in one of his poems 
that the devil might yet be turned around the corner and 
be saved. Let us hope that Giiiteau's life will not be ended 
suddenlv bv that wanton sentiment into which you have 
blown a breath. 



GARFIELD'S GREATNESS. 79 

But what shall we say of that sorrowful group, Garfield's 
family; of the mother, whose son preceded her, and of the 
wife, who had shared her husband's elevation ? Love needs 
the presence of the loved one, and chastened though she is, 
there is no one that needs our prayers more than she. 
May the blessing of God, enriched by the tears of a whole 
people, rest upon his children, and may his sons follow in 
his footsteps. 



COMFORT IN SORROW. 



By Robert Collyer, D.D. 



Delivered in the Church of the Messiah, New York, Sept. 25, 188L 

We can meet no more as we did last Sunday, with some 
gleam of hope left, that a joyful word would soon come to 
whisper that God would give back the President to us. 
What we have feared so long has come upon us. Out of 
the midnight came the sad cry, "The President is dead," 
After the tossing to and fro unto the close of day the Angel 
came, and the gates of eternal morning opened swiftly on 
our midnight, and he was free from pain. Angels wel- 
comed him as he passed through the shining portals into 
his final home. 

There was a little ray of hope, but as I looked down 
upon your faces last Sunday I could only think it had 
burned in your hearts as in mine, to the last spark, hidden 
in the white embers, and nothing less than a miracle could 
make it kindle up again into a flame that would live day by 
day. In the heart of the Church and of the Nation I do not 
think the blow, when it did come, was so severe as we had 
expected, for we were doing what we have done so often 
when the threads of life were breaking, and at last only 
one is left — we saw that while there was life there was 
hope; but in this case, tliat life was death. Yet we 

(80) 



COMFORT IN SORROW . 81 

would not admit that the pain and suffering of our Pres- 
ident should end in dissolution, but still I think at last we 
came to that point that we could praj that he might be 
spared much suifering. He became so helpless, and there 
was only one way out of it, and that way prevailed. 

When the news came, troubling the night and casting a 
shadow over the day, I think there came over us a dumb 
thanksgiving that the struggle was over. We watch those 
we love while they live in the tabernacle, and we cling to 
the dust when they are gone, and while they are safe in the 
heart of the great Divine wonder; yet we turn to the face 
and kiss it, because, we say, it is all we have left. 

While there is some consolation in all this, it is not 
enough, and where shall we find enough? I confess it is as 
hard for me as for you to submit to the doom. We are not 
resigned, as he was not resigned. We may say, "God's 
will be done," but we cannot say thatit is God's will that he 
should be taken from us in that infernal way, taking out 
the heart of the Nation and flying our banner at half-mast. 
It is a consolation to us not to be resigned, and when min- 
isters in the pulpit say: " God is in all this," let us cry out : 
"How do you know? Where is your authority for saying 
so?" Garfield himself did not wish to give up the world, 
for three reasons. He loved his life, he loved his country, 
and he loved his family. He loved his life in the West, his 
farm, the fruits of the earth, the milk and honey, the sweet- 
smelling odors found about an old farm house, that aroma 
that comes from the fields and from the woods. He loved 
Ohio better than " the fields beyond the swelling flood.'* 
His love for the Nation was blended with his love for life. 
He was ready to work for the Nation when the bullet came- 
The love of country and of his life was crowned with his 
love of those at home. After taking the oath of office he 
turned an^ kissed his mother. With some men that would 



82 COMFORT IN SORROW. 

have been only clap-trap, but in him it was talcing the sac- 
rament. All were proud of him. How he battled against 
death for their sakes! The heart could not be broken as 
the body was, for he loved his life and his country, and 
above all his home, and for their sakes wished to li«ve. Let 
evil work its worst, it could not slay the heart. 

Anotlier spring of consolation comes from the tokens of 
sympathy and good will which came pouring in as he 
slowly sank into the grave. If all this had been revealed 
to him — that the old smoldering fires of resentment be- 
tween North and South, between England and America, 
were being quenched by the tears of sympathy for him and 
his family — would he not have welcomed his death? 
Another intimation of consolation arises from the fact that 
the Nation will now inquire after the root of this evil, and 
will search out the cause. The problem is no longer how 
shall we govern, but how shall we govern ourselves, and 
must our President be destroyed in doing this? 

There is consolence for his widow in that he is waiting 
and watching for her; for his children, in that in the future 
their father will be spoken of and placed among the names 
of Washington and Lincoln. Had he served out his term 
he would probably have made mistakes, for a weary time 
was waiting for him, and our ex-Presidents do not get 
much praise. Our hopes were that fairer days were in 
store for him; but he has gone to fairer days above. 



OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 



By Hon. Emery A. Storrs. 



DeliTered in the First M. E. Church, Chicago, Sept. 25, 1881. 

Be sure, my friends, I am entirely conscious of the im- 
possibility of giving anything like adequate expression to 
that great sorrow which weighs upon your liearts, and upon 
the hearts of 60,000,000 of people to-night. I know that 
no language that I can possibly employ — I know, indeed, 
that no language that falls short of inspiration in its char- 
acter — could fittingly tell the grief in which this great peo- 
ple is involved. Kever since we have been a people- 
never, indeed, since this world has had a history — has there 
been a mourning so universal, a grief so deep, and so pro- 
foundly sincere; and how tame and weak, in the presence 
of such a sorrow, which weighs upon the hearts of all our 
people like lead, how tame and weak, I say, mere words 
seem, to voice and to give it expression ! I shall not voice 
yonr feelings to-night if I speak of the great dead merely as 
the dead President. I shall not voice your sorrows to-night 
if I speak of the martyred President as the noble husband, 
as the patriotic citizen, and as one filling high station, as 
the great statesman, as the devoted Christian. Not all 
these combined would fill the requisition which you would 
make upon him to whom you look for the expression of 

(83) 



84 OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 

your sorrow and your grief ; but to all these must be added, 
and every sentence must be deeply freighted with words 
of kindliest personal regard and expressions of tenderest 
personal friendship. 

I wish to supplement what your pastor has said. The 
Christian Churches do not merely honor the memory of 
President Garfield because he believed in the Bible, in 
which you believe and 1 believe, nor because he believed in 
that blessed Savior in whom you believe and I believe. It 
honors him, not merely that he was a believer, nor merely 
because he was a preacher of its doctrine, but it honors hira 
above all things and beyond all things because in the low- 
liest station and in the highest station, in his daily walk 
and conversation, he illustrated the majestic truths of the 
Bible in which he believed, and the divine character of the 
blessed Savior whose example he followed. 

What is there that makes this mourning so universal ? 
The whole world is filled with it, and during these long, 
sad, dreadful, weary weeks through which we have passed. 
Gen. Garfield has come to be something more than our 
President. He has been enshrined in every home, and 
folded with an infinite loving tenderness into every heart. 
Tottering old age has left its corner, prattling childhood has 
abandoned its sports, to inquire, " How is the dear, good 
President to-day ?" And prayers, and hopes, and fears have 
filled all the atmosphere, and enveloped us like it, until at 
last the dreadful shock came; and the mighty sob, heard all 
over the continent, which is carried all around the globe, 
and in which every civilized people have joined, teaches us 
the blessed truth of the universal brotherhood and humanity 
of man. 

1 cannot speak alone to-night of Gen. Garfield as Presi- 
dent of the United States. I cannot speak of him merely 
as legislator. I cannot speak of him, if I fitly express our 



OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 86 

feelings, as Senator, or as Congressman, or as statesman, or 
as politician, or as lawyer, or as citizen. I must speak of 
him in a connection dearer than all else to me. When I 
think of him there conies rushing back upon my mind the 
memory of these past years; and let me, my good friends, 
lay at your feet to-night, poor as it may be, the tribute of 
one who loved him tenderlj'^ and well. 

Gen. Garfield made the whole circuit of our noblest and 
best American life. He described it all. He suffered and 
he rejoiced. He strove and he succeeded. He tried and he 
failed like all the rest of us. Disappointments, triumphs — 
all these checkered his splendid life as we look back upon 
it as a completed whole; but the marvelous feature of that 
life seems to me to be after all, as we look upon it now, its 
wonderful and its absolutely perfect naturalness. 

He never reached a position that he did n't seem natur- 
ally to fill. He never achieved a single elevation that did 
not seem to be so thoroughly due to him. He never 
aspired — in its vain, mean sense — to place, but place came 
to him. No man in all this broad laud is any poorer to-day 
for what James A. Garfield has been. No ambitious man 
in all this continent is any lower to-day because of the 
splendid heights which James A. Garfield reached. He 
entertained no rancors toward a single human beinsf. And 
when their hearts were probed, no single human being held 
a rancor against James A. Garfield. He never despised a 
living creature, and no living creature ever contemned him. 
He never harmed a human being, and, but for the one, no 
human being would ever have wittingly harmed James A. 
Garfield. He never selfishly stood in any human being's 
way, and when great bodies of men disagreed, hundreds 
and thousands of human beings got out of his way, and 
asked him to stand up higher. 

A little more than one year ago, in a great convention — 



86 OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 

the grandest in some of its aspects the world has ever wit- 
nessed — we strove and strove, day after day, and day after 
day, each one pursuing his own choice and his own ambi- 
tion, but when the final end came, James A. Garfield had of- 
fended no man, James A. Garfield had wounded no one, and 
when the rushing tide came, every heart in that great body and 
this great Nation said Amen. In the contests of his own State 
the word " contest " ceased, and there was no contest. In 
the conflicts of the legislative forum the word "conflict" 
ceased to have a meanino:. and there was no conflict. There 
was no bitterness in his heart, and there was never slander 
on his tongue. 

Yon may search the record of that pure and spotless life, 
and all through it you cannot find one unkind or one un- 
generous word uttered of a human being. My friends, 
challenge your memories. How bright and spotless will 
this simple record some of these days become, growing 
from the ground up, suffering with the people, of the peo- 
ple, sympathies quick for the yteopie; of towering, and I 
might almost have said of a colossal, but a noble ambition. 
Assailed as but very few men have been assailed, yet his 
gentleness and his nobility disarmed them all, and the 
slanders of his enemies fell harmless and worthless at his 
feet. 

Pursue his career in his own State. How marvelous it 
seems to be to-day, and how natural. The school boy, the 
teacher, the preacher, the soldier, as brave as he was mod- 
est and as modest as he was brave. His soul, his life itself, 
as he periled it, he held in slight esteem wiien the honor of 
his Nation was involved. He knew not what fear was; but 
of all the pities that angels ever felt, none were softer and 
tenderer than that of James A. Garfield for a vanquislied 
foe. And thus everybody came to love hiiti; thus it is 
that everybody does love him; thus it is that through all 



OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 87 

the homes, on every hillside, in every valley of this _^reat 
land, there is no spot in which the memory of onr dear 
dead President is not enshrined as the most sacred and 
blessed among all their possessions. 

I have said how natural his life was — how easy was its 
flow. There were no leaps; there were no sudden advances. 
There was nothing theatric nor dramatic in his manner. It 
was oue day of honest, earnest, patriotic well doing, follow- 
ing right along after the other, in as noiseless and as beau- 
tiful a succession as, under the hands of the Almighty, the 
seasons make their courses as the ages roll on. Tliis is our 
dead President. I have said to you that above and beyond 
all the honor that I have for him in every department of 
life that he has filled, there is something that comes much 
nearer my heart when I remember him as I have seen him. 
I know how simple the story of reminiscence must be, and 
I know that no eulogy is so fitly or so expressively spoken 
as the simple language of the simple days that great men 
have lived. During the last campaign I met the General, 
as we all called him, again and again. From the day that 
he received the nomination here at Chicago I never saw 
him look, and I never heard him express a doubt — not a 
whisper nor a suggestion of a doubt. I never heard him 
make an unkind criticism, although I did hear him again 
and again and repeatedly insist upon it that whatever the 
result might be no man in all this Union would be so thor- 
oughly satisfied with it as himself, provided every man be- 
neath the flag, high or low, rich or poor, black or white, 
should vote precisely what he thought, and that his vote 
should be counted as it was cast. 

I remember meetino; him at Mentor. I think I shall 
never forget that. Reaching Cleveland just upon the eve 
of the election in Ohio, thoroughly fatigued, in some way 
or other Gen. Garfield had learned that I was almost dis- 



88 OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 

abled for further exertion, and there came into my room 
late that night, or rather about two o'clock in the morning, 
a dispatch from the General, saying that I must go down to 
Mentor in the morning, and so down to Mentor I went. 
We had heard the news from Maine. You know how bad 
it was — how discouraging it was. I met him at the station, 
and a cheerier, heartier, breezier man, it seemed to me, I 
never met in all my life. I went to his home with liim, 
and we talked a little of politics, but very little. He had 
been reading Burke, and he took down a volume of Burke 
in his library, and called my attention to one or two of tiiose 
splendid passages of his, in one of wliich— and I shall always 
remember it — occurred the wise expression: "He wlio 
accuses all mankind as being guilty of corruption is sure to 
convict but one." How wise, the General said, this was, 
and how well it would be could the captious fault-finders of 
the country thoroughly appreciate what that greatest and 
most substantial of all reformers said. And so we s])ent 
the day, talking over the campaign, looking through his 
books, going about his farm — talking less of politics, a great 
deal less, than of literature; and the time came when I 
must go, for I was to speak that night at Cleveland, aiul he 
got out that good, old, honest, country horse of his, as 
honest and plain as his owner, and drove me to the station. 
I remember his speaking of what his friends had done for 
him, the time they had spent, and the earnestness that they 
exhibited; and putting his arms around my shoulder, and 
calling me by my first name, he said: ' " I should be guilty 
of the greatest ingratitude — I know I never can do it — 
I must always remember what through all this country 
all these people have done." 

I saw our poor President again not until April, calling 
upon him, of course, immediately upon my arrival in 
Washington, as it was my pleasure and my duty to do. 



OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 89 

There was no opportunity whatever for conversation. He 
asked me to come to the White House that night, and of 
course I went; but there was no talk of politics. Senators 
were there, and other people who took his attention, and we 
simply talked of his pictures; but again, at his request, I 
went. His wife was in New York; his mother was there. 
He asked me to lunch, and I spent three hours with him 
that day, almost alone. Nobody, indeed, came in, except 
Dr. Baxter, of whose name you have heard so much. As 
we were about half through with our conversation, Dr. Bax- 
ter came in, and the President complained of difficulty with 
his head, pain in the back of his neck, and said that he was 
feverish. Dr. Baxter looked at him, and the President 
passed out. A little alarmed, I asked the Doctor what was 
the matter — if there was anything the matter with the spine, 
or anything of that sort. He said, "No, not the slightest; 
the poor man has been absolutely run over, beseiged unto 
death almost by seekers after office. All he wants is quiet 
and rest, and," said Dr. Baxter, "he is good for fifty years." 
Some allusic n has been made to it here, and almost the 
lirst thing that he said, I remember, as we got into the 
library, was his utter disgust for that part of his official 
duties— utter and complete. He looked it, and he felt it. 
He threw up his hands as he spoke in a sort of despair, and 
he said: "When can I ever got rid of this? How insig- 
nificant it all seems to me to be!" And then, sitting 
down, he said: " You know we are something alike in one 
respect — we like a stupendous debate on some question of 
doctrine, have it settled, shake hands and make up, and go 
along and settle another question. But these dreadful 
things, it seems to me, never will be settled." " Why," I 
said, " Mr. President, I am not as good a mannered man 
as you are, I am not as gentle a man as you are. You 
have asked me to talk to you quite plainly. Why don't 



90 OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 

you disperse this mob?" He said: " How can it be done?"^ 
I said: "Divide it into seven parts. You have seven 
members of your Cabinet. Divide the mob up into seven 
parts, and if there is danger of one-seventh of tlie mob lull- 
ing any of j-our Cabinet officers, have them hire help, and 
have subdivisions all the way down until it is one at a time, 
if it is necessarv for vour relief" And so we went all over 
the field of politics. There were a great many troubles in 
the political sky at that time. I am not going to talk 
about them now, but I will tell you how gently and affec- 
tionately he spoke of everybody. 

There was not a man who was considered his enemy at 
that time that he did not speak of him in the gentlest and 
most affectionate terms. And I told him what a gentle- 
man whom he had supposed was at enmity with him, had 
said about him — some kind, pleasant word. I said to him: 
" Mr. President, I am not here, it is no part of my mission, 
to tell you disagreeable things, but I want to tell you what 
Senator so-and-so said to me no longer ago than yesterday 
— a good, kind, manly recognition of your qualities " — and 
he was as pleased and delighted at it as a boy; and he 
spoke of the same Senator words freighted with good feel- 
ing, and of those who were supposed to be in hostility to 
him, mentioning them by name. Not one single syllable 
dropped from his lips that I did not feel it a most exquisite 
pleasure to convey to the men concerning whom he had 
spoken. 

And ag^ain and a^rain I saw him. I can 't recall it all. 
It would take all night if I undertook to do it. I never 
can describe to you the exquisitely friendly manner that he 
had. Those who have ever known Gen. Garfield loved him 
as you would love a wife, as you would love a daughter. 
It was not a mere feeling of admiration. It was a feeling 
of deep, intense personal affection and regard. 



OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 91 

And the idea tliat he could do anything that was wit- 
tino-ly unjust seemed to me to be utterly impossible. Know- 
ing the man as I did, seeing him as I have, I don't think, 
so conspicuously free, and clear, and honest was his nature, 
that it would have been possible for James A. Garfield ta 
have done an unjust thing if he had tried. I recall 
the day when the children of Washington had a festival ; 
and I remember it now because it was one of the little 
events worth while recollecting, while I was in Washington. 
Some notes were brought in to him from the children, ask- 
ing that they might be allowed to roll their eggs on the 
White-Iiouse lawn. It is a great festival day in Washing- 
ton, and a custom peculiar, I think, to Washington alone. 
There were a ^reat many notes, and they were answered in 
the President's charming manner. And when we went in- 
to the library and got a view of the lawn — it slopes very 
gently, as those who have been there will remember — there 
seemed to be thousands of children engaged in that curious 
sport of rolling eggs down the lawn; and there was no child 
there half so delighted, half so charmed, with the sport as 
the dear, good President, who had opened the White-House 
grounds for the innocent play of the day. And there he was 
so burdened with all these tremendous cares. 

But let me say one thing more. It was perfectly clear 
to my mind, notwithstanding all this gentleness of de- 
meanor, notwithstanding all this tenderness of feeling for 
friend and for foe, that, when the President had finally 
made up his mind as to what was the fitting and the prop- 
er course for him to pursue, he was going to adhere to it 
undeviatingly and unswervingly unto the end. When I 
left him I had no mistake about it. I was in no sort of 
doubt. I knew that certain things would be done. I knew 
perfectly well that certain things would not be done. 
There was no anger about it. It was a feeling infinitely 



92 OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 

loftier and holier than anger. There was no passion what- 
soever in it. He made up his mind on those grave ques- 
tions without compassion. I think I can say it truthfully — 
he was almost absolutely impersonal. I had known him 
for years, but the iron strength of that solid resolution 
down in his soul, and encysted with that tenderness of 
spirit, never exhibited itself to me before as it did that day. 

And so the days went on, and he was President. I know 
we talked; he delighted as a boy over the wonderful recep- 
tion that his Administration had met in its opening days 
from the people, and he compared it to a great ship. He 
said: "How splendid it seemed. A crew faithful to the 
last, the winds all favoring, the skies all clear, triumphal 
music sounding upon its white and stainleSs decks, floats 
from the shore," and he said, " and it would be some honor, 
out in the depths of the ocean, smitten by storm and en- 
veloped by seas, to go down gurgling to the bottom; but," 
he says, " we cannot aftbrdto be stranded in the bay. The 
ship must go out to sea." And I know that his wish 
was — it was the solid prayer of his heart every hour — that 
the great party of which he was the head — the elected and 
the selected head — and which he believed was the custodian 
for the years to come of the priceless treasure of free gov- 
ernment amouij men — miij-ht rule the countrv; but he 
loved the great Nation better than he loved the party. He 
was in no sense a factionist, and never could be. He loved 
the party because he believed its existence was indispensa- 
ble for the prosperity of the country, and, to secure it, he 
would have sunk ])arty faction — all other interests — deeper 
than ever plummet sounded, if it became necessary. 

And thus, my friends, it comes to pass again that the 
sorrow over the death of our good President comes from 
no section of the country. The grief is the same every- 
where; the skies are as black South as they are North; 



OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 9^ 

homes are stricken there as they are here; for they of the 
South know that that noble heart never throbbed that it 
did not pulse with love for the whole Union. They knew 
that while he wanted no solid South, he wanted no solid 
North. He wanted a great, splendid, God-fearing, prosper- 
ous and happy Kation. They knew that he would make 
them prosperous if they would but let him. Hardly a week 
had flown by when every man in the South, no matter how 
deeply in his heart rankled the bitterness of the old time, 
knew that if he had no friend elsewhere, he had in the Pres- 
ident of the United States a friend upon whose wise coun- 
sels he could always rely. There was no laborino; man in 
all this great land who toiled and sweated for daily subsis- 
tence, that did not know the President was his friend. 
There was no scholar struggling to a higher life and a 
clearer light, tliat did not know that Garlield was his 
friend, and sympathized with him. There was no 
statesman, looking for a broader and holier statesman- 
ship, that did not know that he had a friend in the Pres- 
ident of the United States. There was no oppressed and 
stricken man anywhere, whose rights the law failed to 
vindicate, that did not know that he could appeal to the 
great head of a great Nation, and tliat his prayer would be 
heard. There was not in all the South a cabin so low or a 
swamp so desolate, where the disfranchised citizen might 
be di'iven to escape from unrelenting foes, but that he 
knew that no matter how low his whisper, or how weak his 
cry, the quick ear of the President of the United States 
would be sure to catch them both. Thus the whole land 
loved him. Leaving the mighty cares which he had as- 
sumed, leaving the burden of this stupendous responsibility 
■with his past career illumined all the way with light, this good 
husband, this kind father, this brave soldier, this patriotic 
citizen, this profound scholar, this great statesman, tliis 



94 OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 

modest man, this true and faithful friend, turned his back 
upon his official place and power, and sought the college of 
his old days. 

There is mixed with this dreadful bereavement some- 
thing in the nature of a calamity, a feeling of utter shame 
and humiliation, that among all these 50,000,000 of people 
one miscreant heart could be found that would conceive, 
and one villain hand could be found that would execute, 
his death. Wounded unto death, they carried him back; 
and since these days there is not a home iu all this land 
that has not had the spirit and presence of the poor suffer- 
ing and wounded President within it. How we have 
watched through the days and through the nights, and 
and how the first thought, as dawn has broken upon us, 
was, " How has the President passed the night?" and the 
last prayer that we have uttered as we have sunk upon our 
couch was that the good President, the head of our great 
Nation, might rest sweetly and safely through the night! 
There is nothing, my friends, in all the history of this world 
half so tearful or half so sad. The world has never before 
witnessed anything like it; and if the spirit of these fifty 
millions of people could have taken bodily form and shape 
there, the}- would have been seen, with the angels from 
Heaven, hovering over the bed of pain of our dear Presi- 
dent, from which, during all these hours of sore anguish 
and sorrow, there never came one complaint. 

How dear he is to us, for the tender words that upon 
that dying bed he has uttered! No reproach has escaped 
his lips. He has watched his own life fast ebbing away. 
Taken from the malarious atmosphere of the Capitol, borne 
by the sounding sea, with his eyes resting upon its billows, 
there the life of the good President " went out with the 
tide." In these last hours that came to him, his poor, 
wrecked, shattered, and benumbed body, be sure, felt no 



OUB GOOD PRESIDENT. 95 

pain. All agonies had ceased, all sufferings and sorrows 
had closed, and before that pure heart and across it the past 
seemed to swim like a hurrying vision. Back it carried 
him to the old school days — there was no reproach and no 
etain there; back to the early triumphs of his boyhood — 
there was no reproach there; back to his budding ambition 
— there was no shame nor dishonor there; back to the time 
when, feeling the honor of the land he loved so much as- 
sailed, he periled his life that the land he loved so much 
might know no dishonor — there was no discredit there; 
back to his long and splendid record as a legislator — no dis- 
honor there; back to the achievement of the loftiest ambi- 
tions of earth — there was neither spot, nor blemish, nor 
any such thing there. The old memories of the old time 
tilled his soul as if the sunshine coming from the throne of 
the eternal God had blazed all over it and the future lifted 
to our President — that future into which he soon went — 
and there, be sure, like the telegraphic message that runs 
from the heart of every living creature to the throne and 
bosom of the Eternal God, he heard that welcome, "Well 
■done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of thv 
Lord." 

The pinions of unseen angels bore him there, and there, 
this night, robed in spotless white and surrounded by the 
great of all the ages, stands our President and our friend, 
raining benedictions upon us who are mourning for him. 

In the presence of such a sorrow, which is not unaccom- 
panied with a holy and an almost ecstatic joy, how weak is 
the talk of party, and how mean the cry of faction ! Stand- 
ing by the open grave of this noble citizen and this pa- 
triot President, we may say: Hush strife and quarrel 
over this solemn scene. Enemies no longer, friends for- 
ever; and, linked hand in hand, take a solemn vow togeth- 
er that in that grave shall be buried all of bitterness and 



96 OUR GOOD PRESIDENT. 

all of party hate. Over that pure life there shall come a 
penetrating perfume which shall, you may be sure, float all 
around the globe, and intoxicate every other nation with 
the hope of liberty. 

Our good President is dead ! The fires of his earthly 
tabernacle are all burned out, but burning with a clear, 
white light, we shall place the memory of that pure life^ 
like a beacon light, upon the headlands of this world's 
history in all the ages to come. 

My good friends, the very fact that throughout all our 
great land, in such halls as this, and under such sacred in- 
fluences as these millions are this night gathered, would al- 
most reconcile us to our mighty bereavement. The past of 
James A. Garfield is secure. No domestic enemy nor 
foreign foe can ever hurt him more. His memory is ours. 
His fame is ours, and I would take it to my heart and 
treasure it as the most priceless jewel in all our earthly pos- 
sessions: Patriot, citizen, Christian gentleman, President, 
friend! All that we can say is, our hearts sound his dirges, 
God bless his name, and — farewell! 



GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 



By Hon. R. Stockett Mathews. 



Delivered at the Memorial Services in Grace M. E. Church, Baltimore, Sept 26, 1881. 

Over all the better portions of the vast earth the wisest 
and best of mankind are mourning as never before for the 
death of only one of the unnumbered millions of our race. 
Peasant and prince, kings and queens, hewers of wood and 
drawers of water, as well as the leaders of thought and dis- 
covery and progress, are turning their eyes towards the new 
continent and its young Kepublic with unaffected sorrow, 
almost as keen, well nigh as profound as our own. 

Never before has just such an existence passed through 
so many picturesque phases to an ending so pathetically 
tragic, so violent, so appalling. lie was the son of a widow, 
born in a cabin; he fell from that station which the citizens 
of the United States are wont to deem the zenith of earthly 
ambition, while tlie plaintive monody of grief which flows 
from the stricken heart of the Kation is repeated and echoed 
atrain and a^ain, until its reverberations traverse the cir- 
cumference of our planet, and return to mingle with the 
still fresh lamentations on our farthest shores. He possessed 
so many attractive qualities of personal character, united 
with so many and such varied capabilities for usefulness 
and distinction, that in the calamity of his death, the coii- 
7 (97) 



98 GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 

solations of memory, as we ponder on what he was, and has 
achieved, are impotent to soothe the anguish of a thousand 
ungratified hopes, when we try darkly to foreshadow what 
he might have been and done. Nature and culture, each 
at its best, were to be seen in his full development, joining 
the graciousness of an even, unselfish temperament to the 
tender strength of constant affections, the generous enthu- 
siasms of a large and liberal soul, with every grace, refine- 
ment and fascination of speech and manner which could be 
acquired by the pursuit of the noblest objects and familiar- 
ity with the most elevating books. " The two noblest 
things, which are sweetness and light," says Dean Swift; 
and of them, the man — the magistrate who has gone — had 
more than ample share, mingling in such liarmony that 
while one deplores the peiishing of the statesman by tiie 
ignoble hand of an assassin, one renders the homage of a 
genuine grief, of a stunning sadness, for which tears are 
only the eloquence to the son, the husband, the father, whose 
virtues iiave ennobled humanity in our own eyes. 

It is an inspiration, as we contemplate his public course 
of a single score of years, not so much to emulate his in- 
tellectual attainments, or to take pattern after his eminent 
performances, but to become such as he was to those near- 
est to him, by the fireside, in the library — to fit ourselves 
to be trusted and respected as he was. Gentleness of dis- 
position, a heart luminous with jo}"" and man h' cheerful- 
ness, are potent to win and hold the attachments of all 
with whom we have to do. After all, to be able to forge 
the endurina: bonds which are made fast and stroni]' by the 
aflisiities of taste and sympathy and feeling, and to come 
back from toil or sacrifices or leadership -into the privacy 
of the enchanting home, where love is master of all feasts 
and ceremonies, and genuine friends, however fewy gather 
about lis — this is, indeed, the richest compensation for 



GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 99 

every endeavor; the charm and unchanging delight of the 
highest form of life. It is because he shone conspicuous 
for these social and domestic attributes; because he had 
such a simple, symmetrical human personality that his 
taking-off, •' a deed without a name," appeals with such 
pitiful intensity to all our better emotions, and we are not 
guilty of weakness when we weep over him, either in soli- 
tude or with the multitude. 

Only a little while ago (here the speaker paused for a mo- 
ment, and resuming, said:) I had written thus far, and 
nothing more, when the realization of the tremendous loss 
to which our people and all posterity have so suddenly been 
subjected came over me, and with it, in mental procession 
all its possible, saddest consequences, conjured by no wil- 
ling imagination, I was forced to lay aside my pen and 
wait until 1 should come into the presence of an audience 
whose faith and prayers might drive the unvvclcome visions 
from my thoughts. Only a little while ago — it seems as if 
we could reach the day by simply putting out our hands 
towards the invisible calendar — Washington beheld such a 
pageant as it had never witnessed in all preceding time. 
Only a little while ago a young man, in the fullness of 
his physical bloom and beauty, who had not yet reached 
the ripeness and maturity of his transcendent intellect, 
stood in the presence of thousands of his admiring fellow 
citizens— the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court before 
him. Senators and Eepresentatives of the Nation around 
him; just by his side the mother who had borne and raised 
liim, and had carried him through privation and poverty; 
the wife whose gentle nature had tempered his own to a 
riclier fineness, at his right hand. And when he had re- 
peated the great oath, that he would see that the Eepublic 
should suffer no detriment, and it had been carried up to be 
recorded for all eternity, his first act of thanksgiving, of 



100 GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 

recof^nition to the instruments which had been most power- 
ful in the moulding and the fashioning of his character, 
and the inspiration and the guidance of his career — his first 
act was to turn and kiss the woman whose lips had taught 
him the Lord's Prayer, and then the woman from whose 
lips he had drawn the first sweet baptism of that love 
which surpasses every rapture known on earth. And then 
he began this brief administration of the few months in 
which, with almost startling suddenness, he revealed to our 
people new qualities which are possible to public men; 
moral courage that was absolutely inflexible, a superiority 
to malign counsels and untoward influences, that would not 
for a moment permit him to stoop to any concession be- 
neath the dignity of the Executive prerogative, although by 
dalliance or tem])orizing he might have bought peace and 
quiet for himself. 

His secretary of the treasur^^, whose ability and long 
training are supplemented by the sound and accurate 
views of his superior, went on to finish that great act — of 
funding the national debt — which has made the students of 
finance in other States marvel beyond expression at the 
lessons of statesmanship which are being taught in our 
\ own, and everywhere, from Maine to California, from Ore- 
gon to Florida, although hosts of those who were seeking 
the substantial rewards for political activity went crowd- 
in o- to the capitol, this man of such extraordinary self-poise 
and self-reliance dismissed them by the thousand, remitted 
them to their dwellings, and was the first of our rulers for 
many successive administrations to announce as the guid- 
ino- principle of his own, that no man should be disturbed 
in a subordinate ofiice, so long as he was capable, honest, 
and faithful, until the end of his term expired, and even 
then his claims, his merits should be considered as fully 
and as conscientiously as those of others who might be ap- 



GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 101 

plicants for the same place. And if he had done nothing 
else in his brief life, a moiety of which had been devoted 
to public service, he would have left a memory to the 
American people imperishable, precious, and which no com- 
ing man can eclipse. 

Who was this hero? The bells of St. Paul's Cathedral of 
London speak with their resounding tongues, aTid the can- 
ons and prebendaries of the Cathedral, at Liverpool, are 
telling to our English-speaking kindred on the other side 
something of the sorrow which is being felt for our loss. 
In the villages, in the universities, and in the capital of 
Germany, the name which has been so frequently on our 
lips, is now pronounced as softly and as lovingly as in our 
own commonwealth. The English court is in mourning, 
the Spanish court is in mourning, while the recent repub- 
lic of France sends to us, by the mouths of its President, 
its leaders, its statesmen, its great men, assurances of their 
sympathy and their grief Even in the mosques of Con- 
stantinople, the Moslems are forgetting to bend their knees 
to the setting sun, are forgetting to lift up their alleluias to 
the Prophet, and are uttering benisons for the dead ruler 
of the free people of the United States. Was there ever, 
since the world beoun, such another event as this? No 
distance so great, no people so far removed, no civiliza- 
tion so alien, no religion so restricting, no partition, no ar- 
tificial barrier of any kind, sufficient to restrain the whole 
world from bending toward us, and bowing their heads in 
a sorrow that is unutterable, and craving for us a deliver- 
ance from its dreadful results, which can only come from 
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Oh, if the issues of 
life and death are ordained by a blind, fortuitous fate, how 
wretched are we to-day ! 

But, thank God, they are in the hands of a benignant 
and intelligent Providence, working out by grand laws His 



102 GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 

primeval sclieme, throwing the whole majesty and grandeur 
of His sublime nature into the upward and onward progress 
of our race. We know that unless the mission of our Re- 
public is ended, unless free institutions have fulfilled their 
predestined end, that the God who brought us into exist- 
ence will still continue by His own laws, by His own pur- 
poses, antedating prehistoric ages — that he will yet bring 
us up to the fullness and the roundness of a career glorious 
in its objects, and that the death of General Garfield will 
be the advent of a new epoch and the beginning of a new 
era of better, wiser, farther-reaching, more salutary states- 
man shio. 

It is one of the peculiar features of free institutions that 
no boy, however humble his birtli, however narrow and con- 
fining the circumstances by which he may be surrounded, 
need fear that there is any insuperable necessity for his 
remaining in obscurity. To be able to lift up one's eyes 
and see tlie shining portal of the Temple of Fame ; to be 
able to long for the strength to climb up to it, and the 
courage to enter it, constitute, after all, the best birthright; 
and the boy who has felt stirring within him the yearning 
to be something and to do something, has already half 
conquered the world. And if he act persistently and un- 
deviatingly up to that aspiration, turning neither to the 
rio-ht to listen to the siren song of vice, nor to the left to 
satisfy mere sordid or mercenary imjnilses, but devotes 
himself to a life-work of nobility and utility, and keeping 
before liim the great maxims and the great principles from 
whose motive power men gather pluck to reach high places 
and do errand thin2:s--before he has counted his half ecu- 
tury he will be lifted to the top, and standing on the very 
loftiest heights of possibility and opportunity, turn and ask 
the world to look at him as the actual product of free insti- 
tutions, and to behold in his career what may be aecom- 



GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 103 

plislied by a freeman, with greater facility and assurance, 
than in those countries in which rank and caste, hich 
associations and importunate influences are requisite to a 
brilliant service in the halls of Parliament or Assembly. 

I would like to be able to tell you just how it was, and 
when it was, that he whose name I need not mention, 
whose iinage has melted into every soul, first came to real- 
ize that there was within himself something that the ma- 
jority do not feel throbbing for recognition— a percepti- 
bilit}' and impression, ability, a capacity for the acquisition 
of knowledge, for the assimilation of truth, a perseverance 
of purpose, and willingness to deny himself, a readiness to 
submit to any privation that would only clothe and equip 
him with the mj^slic enginery of art and science, and of 
all the teachings of the great and good, until he could go 
out full and efficient and ready to take his place among 
men, and to assert his right to reputation, to become a 
" leader in the files of time." 

It is not at close proximity between the tow-path of the 
canal and the Executive mansion. Long as is the physical 
distance between Lake Erie and Washington, the moral and 
intellectual stadia which he had to pass over were longer 
still; and yet it took but twenty years for him to travel the 
whole distance — and reach a place for which he did not in- 
trigue or bargain, by any mean, illegitimate artifice or self- 
seeking. 

And when you remember from what low estate he started, 
and where he stood in modesty and docility only a few 
years ago, and what he became through the legitimate out- 
growth of his own systematic and methodical use of those 
functions and capacities, aided, of course, and fructified by 
what he gained Irom contact with the world, it is seen that, 
given a sound heart, an honest disposition, not much more 
than ordinary faculties— that is, the seemingly ordinary fac- 



104 GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 

ulties of cliildhood — and then by keeping at it all the time; 
bj burning the midnight lamp; bv the education of one- 
self to the perception of the invisible ends of life, to 
the intangible compensations, to things that cannot be 
transmuted into gold, or place, or position, for the time 
being; by an apprenticeshij) to high ideas; by working up 
to noble ideals little by little, hour by hour, year by year, 
and by never turning aside from them, he can at last reach 
the topmost height — be a man of mark; and, what is better 
still, he can do beneficent things, can by reason of his posi- 
tion, speak grand and assuring words of statesmanship 
into the ear of the universe. 

Twenty years — think of it! Fatherless son of a yonv 
widow; laborer; canal-boy; cho])ping M'ood at twenty-five 
cents a cord; mowing down the green grass of tlie mead- 
ows for fifty cents an acre; carpenter — a rough carjienter — 
hewins: out the e-reen lot^s of the forest to make the hum- 
ble homes of the farmers in that far-off wilderness; student 
in a district school; certified teacher of those who had been 
his playmates and companions; scholar, ncopliyte in col- 
lege, graduate, professor of languages, president of a col- 
lege, rnnnins throuijh the curriculum of humanities; Sena- 
tor in the State Senate; at twenty-nine lieutenant-colonel of 
a regiment of volunteers, one whole company of which was 
composed of students who had sat under his teaching, and 
were willing to go out to death with him, if need be; 
helmsman of his own boat through forty-eight hours of 
peril, when no experienced pilot could be found to guide it 
through the rapids of a swollen river, to bear the needed 
succor to his beleaguered camp; steering it with a hand as 
firm and an eye as clear as though he were sitting here in 
the tranquillity of this sacred edifice; driving a leader more 
accomplished and perhaps more subtle than himself from 
his mountain fastnesses, and winning the first thrHliug, 



GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 105 

mao-iietic victory of the war for the Union; then detached 
to join General Kosecrans as Chief-of-Staff, and acting with 
him until the fateful battle of Chickamauga, and then, 
when the right wing of the army under the Commander-in- 
Chief w£is pierced and disheveled and dissipated, made his 
way alone back through fleeing ranks, through brake and 
briar and forest, for eight miles, until he reached General 
Thomas, who was still iighting with an unbroken front 
aoainst outnumbering legions, and aiding to hurl back their 
impetuous assaults until with his own hands he assisted 
General Granger to give the parting fusilade of artillery, 
which rang out triumphantly and told that the awful com- 
bat had closed with night and victory, and that new lustre 
had been shed upon the loyal troops; then, at thirty-one, 
a major-general; then a representative for six successive 
terms in the lower house of Congress; then a Senator-elect, 
und then President of the United States, in the forty-ninth 
year of his age. O beautiful youth! O grand and vigor- 
ous manhood! 

Coming up from such an origin to take the coronation 
of a simple oath, and stand upon a level with kings and 
emperors by the suffrages of a free people— by the intelli- 
gent suffrages of a free people— for the vote which crowned 
him as chief ruler was the aggregate expression of the 
best conscience and intelligence of our Nation — never be- 
fore did any candidate enter the White House more palpa- 
bly and undeniably by the deliberate action and discrimi- 
nating intelligence of the best classes of American com- 
munities. Here is a climax which surpasses the fables of 
heroes, the legends of ancient mythology. Here is an as- 
cent Avhich beggars description and impoverishes language. 

I challenge you who are most conversant with the biog- 
raphies of the great men of other ages and latitudes to 
find me a" parallel with this almost marvelous rise to exal- 



106 GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 

ted Station. Is it to be wondered at, that now, when he- 
has suddenly disappeared from the theatre of tlie world's 
activities, that he has suddenly perished by the strolce of a 
reptile — whom it would be dignifying to call a uh nster? Is- 
it wonderful that now, when all liis acquisitions, all his at- 
tainments, all his varied and affluent scholarship, all his 
grand and rare traits of character, all that he was and 
might have been, are thus suddenly blotted out? Is it 
wonderful that our tears are flowing like rivers of water? 
Is it wonderful that this loss causes sucli an outpouring of 
inexpressible pain, that when it fully strikes us with its 
overwhelming force, in vain, in vain, almost, we call upon 
our faith in God, and ask Him as some surcease of sorrow, 
to vouchsafe us some medicament for this poignant woe. 
And yet, and yet, my friends, this terrible death may^ 
after all be, we all hope, we all trust, we all would fain be- 
lieve, that it may prove a great blessing to us, and to the 
generations 3'et to come. 

We need this blessing. "We need a benediction from 
lieaven, for "all we like sheep have gone astray." "VVe none 
of us are entirely guiltless in the sight of the great dis- 
penser of good and ill, of our brother's blood. 

If we had all been true, each and every one of us, high 
and low, to our duties of citizenship from our earliest youth 
to the present day; if we had been lending our energies ta 
fashion virile public opinion and to mould robust public 
sentiment; if we had not lent oui-selves to augment the 
rancor of parties and increased the hateful spirit of faction; 
if we had not perverted our privileges and stood silently by, 
time and again, acquiescent, passive, content to witness the 
elevation to power of men simply because they were glib- 
talkers; to see our whole elective system surrendered to the 
administration of ''managers" and of" bosses;" if we had not 
been so long too willing to see unworthy representatives in 



GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 107 

Congress; if we had always demanded that only delegates 
with cultivation and pnre hands, of scholarly tastes, men 
who would be capable of devising additional advantages in 
our government, who conld not only construe past laws, 
but introduce innovations by better statutes to remedy 
deficiencies in our jurisprudence, and make more homo- 
geneous and symmetrical our civil polities, and beautify, 
and adorn, and enlarge all our institutions until they should 
be to their ultimate perfections and possibilities of good, this 
evil which has bel'allen us would not, could not, have hap- 
pened; if we had not made idols of wood, and clay, and 
brass; if we had not been lured by mere orators who possess- 
ed something of dramatic force and the cunning chicane to 
i)lease the ears of the multitude on the hustino^s; if we had 
not stood silently by and seen men working out their self- 
ish schemes, and building before our very eyes what is 
called the " machine," whose wheels, howsoever well oiled, 
grated upon our ears; if we had not been subservient to 
intolerant, imperious, dictatorial politicians, who made 
their combinations expressly for the purpose of putting 
some one in the chief seat of authority who would promote 
their personal greed and interest; if every one had spoken 
through the press what ought to have been said of these 
things, or had called our fellow-citizens into town- meetings 
to reprobate pernicious methods for the profitable instruc- 
tions and admonition of such false leaders; if we had sought 
to exalt the standards of citizenship, had stood upon the 
outposts and had cried aloud against our own dereliction 
and degeneracy — this fell, foul deed would not have oc- 
curred. For James A. Garfield has surely fallen a victim 
to the hate and intolerance of a single faction, whose 
heated denunciations, falling upon the distempered brain 
of that miserable dastard in the jail at Washington, im- 
pelled him to slay the conspicuous opponent of such meth- 
ods and practices, as surely as Henri Quartre was a martyr 



108 GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 

to the Protestant opposition to tlie Jesuits, and was slain 
bj the fanatical hand of Revaillac. 

Just as in olden times another impious hand fired the 
Temple of Ephesus, that he might through such a confla- 
gration inherit undying fame. Is it nothing that the great 
and good Ruler has given us such a country; has made us 
the heirs to such a Constitution and laws; has bestowed 
upon us, through the instrumentality of our forefathers, 
such franchises and opportunities; such rights to happiness, 
both individual and national ? Do we not owe something 
in return to God for what He has made this land ? 

Are we to take all we see as matters of course in our 
daily life, such as are dew and sunshine and starlight, the 
earlv and the latter rain? Are we to look on and neo:- 
ligently behold so many mischiefs — to see great corporations 
rising to overshadow and corrupt legislation, traversing our 
land with continuous lines, and compelling the highwaj^s of 
commerce to become the mere agencies for speculation and 
the amassment of colossal fortunes, controlling our states- 
manship, and binding and loosing statutes to suit their 
exigencies, and raise no voice to arrest them? Do we owe 
notl ing of service and effort to Him and to the future to 
rightly use our liberties, and restrain their use within 
proper limits? Ought we not to cease to be indifferent trj 
everything but party names and discipline, and resist and 
overthrow the spiric of faction? — that, taught by the terrible 
lesson of this untimely death, shocked by the appalling 
shedding of this innocent blood, which seems to have been 
sprinkled upon every door-post of every house in the land, 
that we should become only citizens and patriots, straining 
our utmost to fulfill every loyal obligation and responsibility? 
If these solemn needs are apprehended, these warning 
lessons are appropriated by us, then our great and good 
President will not have died in vain. If they be not learned, 



GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 10^ 

it will be long indeed before heaven will vouchsafe such 
another to adorn private life and give brighter radiance to 
public station. 

I consider the life of James A. Garfield — viewed either 
from its open or its private standpoint — the most perfect 
which has been lived in our century. I know of no man 
to-day in our land who is his equal. ISTor is this a new 
opinion of mine. It is no fresh estimate, beaten out by the 
hand of the destroyer ; it is no mere sentimentality which 
has come with the pangs of a crushing sorrow. On more 
than one occasion during the last canvass — I presume that, 
without immodesty, I may say it — I had the honor to address 
some of the largest audiences which gathered in this country. 
Twenty-seven times during last autumn I was permitted 
to stand before audiences, the least of which did not num- 
ber less than twenty-five hundred people, and the burden 
of all my song, the theme of my warmest advocacy, was the 
personal life and character of the noble gentleman who was 
the candidate of the Republican party. I studied then the 
campaign biographies, in his speeches, in his essays, in the 
maxims of wisdom which had fallen from his lips. 

I remember when I first saw him, eiofhteen vears affo 
this November, on the platform of a meeting at Monument 
Square, and heard him presented to the people as the "brave 
General Garfield, fresh from the Army of the Tennessee." 
I was permitted to pass with him the whole of the evening 
on the Thursday in June before he went with Mrs. Garfield 
to Long Branch. I knew how absolutely frank and sin- 
cere he was — how straightforward and direct; what beau- 
tiful docility he united with firmness of will; what balance 
of judicial mind he had; that, although his perceptions 
were usually quick, his meditative faculties were equally a& 
operative, and that the two sets worked in perfect poises; 
how that what he saw or thought passed into the chamber 



110 GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH 

of judi^ment, and was chrystalized there before it came forth 
either in word or act; how that he was fall of feeling and 
thought — an honest man, a Christian statesman, a perfect- 
ly upright politician. Some of you may smile when I give 
such a prefix to such absurd words— Christian politician, 
Christian statesman. Are they numerous? And yet, here 
was a man who never doubted the divine origin of the 
Christian system, the Atonement, the vicarious sacrifice of 
the founder, the inspiration of the Scriptures, the existence 
of a hereafter, of a future life, to which he looked forward 
always as to the time and place for the future development 
of his own character. * 

He turned aside from skepticism, from doubts and sub- 
tleties, from materialism, from positiveism, pantheism — be- 
lieving with all the tenacit}'-, all the persistency of his cul- 
tivated intellect, in one God, omnipotent and omnipresent, 
holding the ocean in tiie hollow of His hand and giviuij to 
the stars their courses. When science revealed to him dis- 
tant spaces and new planets, and the myriad, multiform, 
sentient life of earth, and the stratifications which were be- 
ing builded until the globe became a habitat of human 
beings, he only deepened in his reverence for the works of 
God, and enlarged his comprehension of the laws of crea- 
tion. 

Mr. Mathews then drew a graphic picture of the 
student life of the President, his ardent thirst for knowl- 
edge, and familiarity with great books, from Homer and 
Aristotle to Shakspeare, Bacon, Burke and Tennyson. He 
quoted the opinions of Lord Macaulay as to the value of 
learning even in the subordinates of a civil service, and 
said that he had been better accomplished for his grand 
work than any of his predecessors. 

He then made a fervent appeal to his audience to put 
themselves into full correspondence with the spirit of the 



GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. Ill 

•occasion, saying that there is darkness upon the land in 
spite of its sunshine. No man can tell what the next day 
may bring forth. The dropped curtain has upon it no clear 
landscape of hope. Let us, with thanksgiving for the man- 
ifold blessinirs of Heaven — with humiliation for our own 
shortcomings — trust that the day of our destiny is not over, 
the star of our fate not declined. I am no pessimist, no 
alarmist. We own ourselves citizens of a splendid nation; 
we boast that our children shall be heirs of a grand future; 
we say that ours is the only real Republic that has ever ex- 
isted — that those of Greece and Ilome*, and Italy in the 
Middle Ages, were only phantoms when compared with our 
greater and freer institutions. Let us see that we do our 
best to preserve and perpetuate, to adorn and magnify the 
costly fabric of our liberties. I have already detained you 
beyond the proprieties of this occasion. It remains for me 
to say only a few words. I have spoken of the man — the 
public servant — in his life and work. 

I come now to speak of the dying hero. I think that 
when every one comes to lie down to die, the example 
which he lias left of fortitude will give us greater calm- 
ness with which to look the grim conqueror of all men in 
the face. Oh ! what a glorious chamber that was at AVash- 
ington or Elberon. No complaining, but resignation, 
manifested hour by hour, as the feeble strength and flicker- 
ing were ebbing away so slowly, so slowly. You remem- 
ber he asked the physicians when first wounded, "What 
are the chances?" And when Dr. Bliss replied, " But one 
in a thousand," the President responded, " We'll take that 
chance." The bitterness of deatli had passed to liim when 
he parted from his wife to go' into the war. It is a singu- 
lar thing that during all the weary agony of his prolonged 
suffering, so little appreciated, because even the surgeons 
were i«:norant of the cruel work done by the bullet, and 
that it was imbedded in a net-work of nerves, he never 



112 GARFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 

once mentioned the name of his assassin, but once, and 
then only in a single sentence, to express his utter inabili- 
ty to comprehend the provocation for his act. AYe think 
of his unfailing courtesy, of his unfaltering fortitude, of his 
patient heroism — of the smile which lighted Lis face M'hen 
Mrs. Garfield came to him as heroic as he from her rapid 
journey from Long Branch ; of his great affection for her — 
the last letter to his mother when he was almost on the 
brink of the beyond — all these things touch us too deeply 
for anything but tears. He has become now the subject 
for the historian. If of foreign nations, we know what the 
verdict of history would be, for foreigners have already 
published their admiration of the symmetry of his char- 
acter, the lovely completeness of his private life. 

And now he is sleeping beneath the fresh mold of the 
grave in Lakeview (lemetry. \Ye have not seen the slow 
pace of the mournful procession; we have not heard the soft 
dirge of its march nor the requiem which has spoken peace 
to his slumbers. We have not stood by the open sepulchre' 
but I am not sure that many of you have not been sitting 
here, but in spirit listening only to sobs of breaking hearts 
around that memorable tomb. I seem myself to have been 
listening for the far-off articulation of that tender sorrow 
which friends and kindred, and children, wife and mother, 
will pour out above him. Dead! All \ i greatness has 
perished. His heart beats neither for his love nor his 
country. Well may we say, " What shadows we are! what 
shadows we pursue! Yanity of vanities; all is vanity!', 
Nay; not so. Such a life is never finished. He has added 
to the store of human knowledge. There is another lus- 
trous name emblazoned upon the rolls of fame; another grand 
figure for monumental marble and bronze; another splendid 
example for the young to follow, for the older to emulate ; 



GABFIELD'S LIFE AND DEATH. 113 

another great type of courage, of heroic endeavor and unen- 
vied success. Dead, but living! Living foreverraore to 
speak down the corridors of time and call the lowly to honor, 
the bras^e to victory, the pure in heart to the kingdom of 
this present life, and of thf^ world to come. 
8 



IN MEMORIAM. 



By Chas. F. Buck, Esq. 



Orator of the day at the Memorial Service in New Orleans, La.. Sept. 26, 1881. 

It was one of nature's lioliriays. Calm and peaceful, re- 
splendantly brilliant, rose the brii^lit "monarch of day" on 
the 2nd of July, 1881, over a happy and peaceful country. 
There had been no "ominous tidings of mishap," no 
" lamen tings heard in the air," nor prophesying with | 
accents terrible — ^ " I 

" Of dire combustion and confused events." 

Fifty millions of people went, rejoicing, to pursue their 
usual avocations. They compose the greatest nation known 
in the history of human development. They are a nation 
of rulers — of sovereign equals, governed only by the laws 
of their own making. From time to time the}' choose a 
worthy citizen of their mumber who must put the laws in 
operation and see them executed. He represents the exec- 
utive sovereignty of the people. The man exalted to that 
station is honored above all mortals. The sceptre swayed 
by the chance of inheritance is a tinseled nothing, not 
worth the birth-right of the humblest American citizen; 
then how much greater than all is he, the chosen sovereign 
of a nation of sovereigns. 

(114^ 



IN MEMORIAM. 115 

In the course of the appointed time such an one had 
just been singled out. There had been a fierce contest of 
opposition cLaimants, embittered by memories of the past; 
differences of tlie present, fears and misgivino-s for the fu- 
ture. But the will of the majority is the choice of all, and 
the successful candidate of a party becomes president of 
the people. James Abram Garfield, who now lies still in 
death, of the State of Ohio, candidate of the Republican 
party, received a majority of all the votes cast for President 
of the United States in the electoral colleofe, and on the 
4th of March, 1881, was installed in the duties of his high 
office. The grim asperities of conflict had already smoothed 
their "wrinkled front." The new President himself had 
said: "If there ever was a people on the earth who had rea- 
son to be tired and weary, to the bone and heart, of politi- 
cal contention, the bitterness of party malice, and all the 
evils that can be suffered from partisanship, it is the aflSicted 
American people." And the peo]3le were tired of it all, 
" to the bone and heart." 

The repose and quiet which followed the conquest, was 
the verdict of universal acquiescence. The chasm which 
divided the people was rapidly closing, making a smooth 
and common level for all to stand on. The soul of the 
chief-elect was full of the grandeur of this consummation. 
In his inaugural address he predicts that it will surely 
come. He appeals to the people with eloquence of tender 
entreaty. "Why should it not be now?" Let us recall 
what he says in this connection right here: "As country- 
men we do not now differ in our judgment concerning the 
controversies of past generations, and fifty years hence our 
children will not be divided in their opinions concerning 
our controversies. They will surely bless their fathers and 
their flithers' God that the Union was preserved, that 
slavery was overthrown, and that both races were- made 



116 IN MEMORIAM. 

equal before the law. We may hasten or we may retard, 
but we cannot prevent, final reconciliation. It is not pos- 
sible for us now to make a truce with time by anticipating 
and accepting its inevitable verdict. Enterprises of high- 
est importance to our moral and material well-being invite 
us, and offer ample scope for the employment of our best 
powers. Let our people, leaving behind tliem the battle- 
fields of dead issues, move forward, and, in the strength of 
liberty and restored union, win the grander victories of 
peace." JToble words; inspiration of the spirit of peace 
which hovers over the mounds where molder the bones of 
slain freemen. Tliey went straight to the hearts of the peo- 
ple, because the people were ready for the day "of honora- 
ble reconciliation and peace," and the people throughout 
the laud were happy and contented. 

They accepted the inauguration of Mr. Garfield as the 
completion of the civil revolution which followed upon the 
revolution of arms, and as the commencement of the era 
of perfect pacification. Tlie President had proclaimed 
himself the apostle of this new Union, and all honored him 
for it and all trusted him; no, not all: Historj^ is tragedy; 
the characters, peoples, the motive power of the action, the 
spirits of good and evil, out of the conflict of which the 
fate of the actors evolves itself. An infatuation, born of 
the spirits of evil, which destro}' and build not up, pos- 
sesses the brain and faculties of a being of flesh and blood 
like ourselves, with feet to walk upon, erect, in the image 
of God — it sounds like blasphemy to say so — and arms 
and hands to do his wicked wiM — an infatuation to kill the 
President of the United States in times of perfect peace. 
He follows the doomed man like his destiny. He is dia- 
bolical, cold and relentless as fate. He sees his victim in 
the peace of his home where he is happy, making others 
huppy; the sight of it for the moment turns him from 
his purpose. Sophistry of the fiend! He is toying with 



IN ME MORI AM. 117 

his prey. He relaxes not his terrible design. He only de- 
fers its execution. He sees the doomed man at his devo- 
tions in the house of God, and thinks he will do it there. 
But no, the hour had not yet come. The dark shadow of 
destiny lurked, but struck not; but it never wavered in its 
purpose. The day came. It M^as decreed in heaven. 

The mortal part of James A. Garfield was doomed to 
martyrdom and death. Two acts in the triloo^v of the na- 
tion's trials had been concluded. The first — the conflict of 
blood — ended with the deatli of Abraham Lincoln; the sec- 
ond — the strife of the passions — closed on the inauguration 
of Garfield; the third — the expiation — begins with the sacri- 
fice of the Apostle of Peace, whose soul had become the in- 
carnation of the spirit of a better future. " The stars had 
said it." Twice the angels of mercy palsied the murderous 
hand; twice the conscious power of innocent and noble man- 
hood awed the coward from his aim. But it was not to be. 
A third time the spirits of evil move their wicked instru- 
ment to his dark design. The victim is wholly unconscious 
of the shadow at his side. His soul is elated with the joy 
of a supreme happiness. He has rendered well the first 
duties of his high call. The seeds of a harvest of peace and 
plenty had been sown. Garfield felt himself the Chief 
Magistrate of a happy and united people. 

He surveys his work and sees that it is good, and rejoices 
in it. He seeks respite from his labors; the father and the 
husband claim their natural due. He is on his way from 
the Halls of Power to enjoy his peace in the shrine of do- 
mestic love. At the fatal railway station, the cares of Gov- 
ernment behind him, the consciousness of duty well done 
with him, t\e prospect of naught but what is good and 
beautiful to him, the President of the United States had 
reached the height of human happiness and glory. 

" Alas ! the gods oft grudge what they have given 
And ne'er unmixed with grief has heaven 
It'sjoys on mortals shed." 



118 IN ME MORI AM. 

In the moment of this supreme consummation of the 
toils of a life, the dark shadow of evil at his side became 
the aven^i^ing Nemesis of Fate, jealous of the happiness of 
men. The " unexpected" happened. Out of the clear 
sky of that bright and peaceful 2d of July, fell the thunder- 
bolt. The assassin-instrument fulfilled his awful mission. 

By noon on that ever memorable day the lightning mes- 
senger had spread the sad news over the civilized world. 
The President of the United States has been shot ! Con- 
sternation filled the hearts of men and pallor blanched their 
cheeks. Was it treason, was it conspiracy, was it domestic 
broil ? Thank God, no ! It was the act of a madman ; 
and by its fruits we shall know it is the decree of a Provi- 
dence, working out after its own merciful manner the destiny 
of nations. " The blood of the martyr is the seed of the 
Church." "On the drenched graves of the battle-fields 
bloom the attributes of a great and free people." 

Death was not instantaneous; the victim lingered between 
life and death for 78 long and painful days. Let us draw a 
veil over that weary struggle. It almost made one " waver 
in his faith" that the prayers of a nation availed naught; 
that fortitude, and patience, and resignation availed naught; 
that love and devotion availed naught. Agony and suifer- 
ino- were not even spared; yea, they seemed to overfill the 
fullest measure of woe that human flesh can bear. It 
shrunk and wasted from day to day, but tlie spirit kept its 
throne in all the grandeur of divine descent. " I cannot 
understand how I am so weak when I look so well." It 
contifiued to waste and waste away under the very hands 
of ministering love, till nothing remained but the coarse 
outer frame of " mortal coil " through which flowed no 
lono-er blood enough to warm the heart within; then the 
spirit took its flight, and the sacrifice was complete. The 
President was dead — dead by the assassin's bullet — and the 



IN MEMORIAM. 119 

Nation is in tears! Sorrow for the dead is hallowed by 
sympathy with the living; a loving husband, a noble father, 
a faithful son, lies in death, lost to his dear ones, because he 
was President of the United States! That is the crime for 
which he died. Justice of Destiny, pardon us in our 
ignorance if we understand not the htness of thy decree? 
and the people feel that he died for them, and so they 
mourn and honor him and make amends to his bereft. 

James Abram Garfield was an extraordinary man of ex- 
traordinary career, and — fate, though cruel, remained true 
to him to the last — extraordinary in his death. Heroes 
have lived and died in all ages; great and good men have 
gone before, whose work still abides and bears fruit; ex- 
celling genius and intellect have reared pre-eminent and 
lasting monuments ere this, but the annals of recorded time 
furnish no parallel so comprehensive, so rounded and com- 
plete, as the life and death of President Garfield. Poets 
will delight to exalt, and statesmen, historians and philos- 
ophers pause to moralize on this singular life long after the 
generation which has witnessed his death shall have passed 
away. Garfield's life is the epitome of the struggle of 
mankind. 

He came into the world with nothing but the privileges 
and attributes which he brought from his Creator. He 
left it at the topmost round of human glory — a character 
moulded to perfection in the school of adversity, through 
which he attained his eminence. 

It becomes a part of my task, even at the risk of wear3'ing 
you, not, I hope, by the subject, but I fear by my inability 
to do it justice, to review as briefly as I can the main in- 
cidents in the life and services of the honored dead to whose 
mortal remains we are now offering the last sad tribute of 
recognition and respect. 

James Abram Garfield was born on the 19th day of Decem- 



120 IN MEMORIAM. 

ber, 1831, in the township ofOrange,Ciiyalioga county, north- 
eastern Ohio. His father, x\bram Gartield, bought tig'ity 
acres of uncleared land in the midst of a forest, miles away 
from the habitations of men. On this he erected a log hut, 
about twenty by thirty feet, of the most primitive sim- 
plicity. Such was the birthplace of the President whose 
death the people mourn to-day, whose memory is honored 
by the world. The family consisted of six — the parents and 
four children. When James was two years old, the father 
died, and left the mother with four orphaned children, the 
oldest of whom, Thomas, was about nine years old. The 
80 acres of land had not been paid for in full, and the 
mother sold 50 to get out of debt. This was the beginning. 
It is as memorable for the sacrifice which turned it onward 
and upward as for its lowliness. The widow knew privation 
and poverty were her lot and the lot of her elder children. 
Eliza Ballon, still living, mother of Garfield, is of the family 
of a heroic and gifted Huguenot, who fled from France after 
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Her love and her 
hopes centered on her youngest son. He, at least, shall be 
a man among citizen-men. He must be lifted out of the 
stagnation of isolated life to a sphere of action where prizes 
are gained and victories achieved.* The elder brother gave 
himself up to this sweet fancy and offered himself, that James 
mio-ht ffo forward. This was the sacrifice. Cheerfully he 
followed his humble lot; he was content to be a tarilor, a 
hewer of wood and a drawer of water, if only his young 
brother could be fitted for a better destiny. 

That is the most instructive period of the deceased's ca- 
reer, which commenced when his brother led him by the 
hand to the country school, and ended when at the age of 
twenty-five years he graduated at Williams College. He 
worked his way through poverty and privation, but the end 
was ever clear to his mind. The struggles of to-day gave 



IN MEMORIAM. 121 

momentum to the effort of to-morrow; " cliaracter is a per- 
fectly educated will," some one has said. Up to the aoje 
of 16 or IT years, Garfield showed nothing extraordinary in 
his being, except that independence and individuality of 
will, without which no one ever became great. But his 
application had been desultory and his pursuits un- 
steady. 

A strange fancy possessed him to adopt a seafaring life. 
It must have been the outgrowth of that indefinite yearn- 
ing which compels great souls in that transition struggle 
from the vagaries of youth to the concentration of their 
faculties on some settled purpose. It ended by him be- 
coming a canal-boat driver, of which he was cured by an 
accident which so nearly cost him his life that his escape 
seemed a miracle to him. He returned to his mother, 
whom he found in the silence of the night offering prayers 
by the fire-light for her wandering son. From that mo- 
ment his character was formed, his ""will was perfectly ed- 
ncated." He knew exactly what he wanted, and to resolve 
was to succeed. He set his heart on graduating in an 
Eastern college. He believed in thorough education as a 
great civilizer of nations and the maker of men. He had 
heard and read that Wellington said the battle of Waterloo 
was planned in the shades of Eaton College. The reasons he 
gave for selecting an Eastern college are characteristic. 
" Having always lived in the West, I think it will make me 
more liberal both in my religious and general views and 
sentiments to ^o into a new circle where I shall be under 
new influences." How he paid his way is known to all, 
partly by aid of kind friends, partly by the earnings of his 
labor at odd hours, and serving as janitor at the College. 

In 1856, after his graduation, he became teacher of Latin 
and Greek at Hiram Institute. He soon became principal^ 
and while so occupied in 1858, married the noble woman 



122 IN ME MORI AM. 

who is to-day the Nation's widow ; all her greatness and 
glory and happiness shrunk into the cold and withered 
form of a murdered husband. At Hiram Institute, Gar- 
field laid the foundation for that oratory, which gave him 
such readiness and command on all occasions. He lectured 
to the school extemjioraneously, several times every week on 
history, literary or scientific subjects. Some time before 
this, he had written to a brother teacher, " Tell me, Burke, 
do you not feel a spirit stirring within you tliat longs to 
know, to do and to dare; to hold converse with the great 
world of thought, and hold before you some high and noble 
object to which the vigor of your mind and the strength 
of your arm may be given ? Do you not have longings 
such as these which you breathe to no one, and which you 
feel must be heeded or you will pass through life unsatis- 
fied and regretful? I am sure a'ou have these, and they 
will forever cling around your heart, until you obey tlieir 
mandate. They are the voices of that nature which God 
has given you, and which, when obeyed, will bless you and 
your fellow-men." 

A man so gifted by nature and so perfected by study 
and reflection could not content himself with the profes- 
sor's chair. The opening ambition of his life was accom- 
plished; he was armed and equipped for the real struggle 
in which honor and distinction are won. This second 
period of his life he entered with an even chance, and soon 
distanced competition. 

In 1859 he was elected a member of the State Senate ot 
Ohio. When Lincoln's call for seventy -five thousand men 
was read, in the midst of clamor and confusion, he jumped 
to his feet and moved that twenty thousand troops and three 
millions of dollars be voted as the quota of Ohio. I refer 
to this to show a characteristic of his mind, the faculty 
to see and do the right thing at the right time, which is 



IN MEMORIAM. 12a 

genius. He rose with every occasion, and mastered tlie sit- 
uation at every turn. While preparing for his departure 
with his re^iraent he writes: " I have had a curious inter- 
est in watching the process, in my own mind, by which the 
fabric of my life is being demolished and reconstructed, to 
meet the new condition of affairs." 

His military career was brief but brilliant. He rose 
rapidly to the rank of Major-General. He had but few 
opportunities of action, but whatever he did was done with 
the clearness of precision and self-reliance of the firm 
leader. There was inspiration in everything he touched. 
The mind's perception was clear and penetrating; the action 
that followed over'whelraing and complete. 

In 1863, while on duty with the armies of the North, he 
was elected to Congress by the J^ineteenth District of 
Ohio. He did not leave the army until satisfied by the 
assurances of superior officers and the request of President 
Lincoln that, he could do so with honor. 

On the 4th of December, 1863, he took his seat in the 
House of Representatives, 32 years old, the youngest mem- 
ber of the House — as he had been the youngest general in 
the army, and the youngest member of the Ohio Legislature 
— after struggling twenty-five years of his life to gain an 
even start wnth his fellow-men. 

The history of his congressional life is beyond the scope 
of this occasion. Nor will I alte upt to describe his ora- 
tory. In this generation, when perhaps hundreds of thou- 
sands are living who have felt the power of his mind as it 
flowed a living current from his own lips, it would be 
folly on my part to repeat at second-hand the traditions of 
eye-witnesses. This I know, that clearness and precision 
and firmness never forsook him; that he acfjuired a confi- 
dence in his own judgment, which he always followed, not 
because he could not believe himself to be wrong, but be- 



1l'4 in me MORI am. 

cause lie made it a canon of his life's faith to please his 
own conscience above all other things or persons. 

Durini>; all this time in Confess he was an advocate and 
leader to that polic}' of reconstruction of the Republican 
party, the scope and effect of which are well known. In 
the heat of discussion and the passion of reports, sharp and 
stinging words might sometimes cross his lips; but at the 
bottom of all he said or did was a stratum of justice and 
the image of liberty and equal rights. Uucompromissing 
in his fealty to republican ideas, he never lost an opportu- 
nity to draw his hearers to the beauty of peace and the 
promise of reconciliation. 

'In 1875, during a bitter discussion on a motion to restore 
Jefferson Davis to the right of citizenship, he said: 

"Mr. Speaker, I close as I began. Toward those men 
who gallantly fought us on the held, I cherish the kindest 
feelings. 1 feel a sincere reverence for the soldierly quali- 
ties they displayed on many a well-fought battle-field. I 
hope the day will come when their swords and ours will be 
crossed over many a doorway of our children, who will 
remember the glory of their ancestors with pride. The 
high qualities displayed in that conflict now belong to the 
•whole Nation. 

" Let them be consecrated to the Union, <and its- future 
peace and glory. I shall hail that consecration as a pledge 
and symbol of our perpetuity." 

PAYING BONDS IN GREENBACKS. 

Let one utterance suffice to illustrate the strength of his 
convictions on this subject. He had been absent in Europe. 
The Republican party of Ohio had been swept into " the 
greenback current," and had adopted a platform looking to 
the payment of bonds in greenbacks. He was told that 
there was no stemming the torrent. An indiscreet word 



IN MEMORIAM. 125 

mio-lit cost him the nomination. He returned to Ohio, 
attended a reception and was called upon to make a speech 
— and he said: 

"Much as lvalue your opinions, I here denounce this 
theory that has worked its way into this State as dishonest, 
unwise and unpatriotic; and if I were offered a nomination 
and election for my natural life, from this district, on this 
platform, I should spurn it. If you should ever raise the 
question of re-nominating me, let it be understood." 

One word more on Garfield's relations to the great ques- 
tions of legislation which engaged the attention of Congress. 
I would not be just to the memory of the dead if I did not 
recall his position on the great financial problems. From 
the moment he entered Congress he foresaw the diffi- 
culties which were likely to come and he sethimself to work 
to master the subject in advance. He reduced it to the 
simplicity of maxims: Pay your honest debts with honest 
money; paper money you may issue, but let your paper dol- 
lar be a certificate of actual value, convertible at the pleasure 
of the holder into a fixed amount of 'royal coin.' 'Fiat' 
paper money is a delusion and a snare; the more you issue 
the more you need, because the more there is of it the more 
worthless it gets. You can have my services only on the 
ground of the honest payment of this debt and th'ese bonds, 
in coin, according to the letter and s])irit of the contract." 

In person the deceased is described as a model of perfect 
manhood. Of commanding stature and energetic mien, 
strong in repose, vehement in action ; his moral nature was 
lofty as his intellect was grand. The grasp of his hand 
was strong and his heart was warm. His domestic life was 
pure and holy. He revered his mother with the devotion 
of a faith; he loved her, not as a child loves the parents, but 
the parents the child, for in the course of years he had be- 
come the stronger and she was his care as he had been hers. 



126 IN MEMORIAM. 

His household was siraplicity and faith and confidence and 
lov^e. With small as with great things he carries tlie 
magnetism of genius and the presence of inspiration. It 
is his which has electrified the people of his country. This 
universal outpouring of sympatliy and mourning, this grief 
so deep, so real, that men feel it but speak it not; this 
spontaneous consecration in fifty million human hearts to a 
fame, and a love, and a glory hallowed and undying; is 
it a false sentiment, a fancy of the moment ? No, it is real, 
as it will be everlasting. It comes not from us alone, it 
springs from our hearts in response to the divinity that 
rediates from the manifestations of a soul grand in all the 
attributes which make man Godlike. 

His strange, eventful life, with its struggles, its purities, 
its devotion, its success and its sacrifice, is a national pos- 
session and a national heritage. May its teachings be also 
a national blessing. 

It remains for us to make it so. The President died be- 
cause his mission was Peace. Let the object of the assassin 
be thwarted. By the memory of your sacred dead, conse- 
crate yourselves to that Peace which he promised — the new 
Union which he foresaw — the new destiny of a re-united 
people. And when it is attained let the Nation rear a 
monument to Harmony and Concord, and on it inscribe in 
letters of everlasting gold, " Sprung from the blood of the 
predestined James Abram Garfield, Martyr President." 
Accursed be the generation that forgets the sacrifice; this 
is the sentence pronounced by the Justice of his country 
on his assassination. 



"THE MAN OF HIS TIME. 



By Phillips Brooks, D.D. 



DeliYered in Trinity Church, Boston, Sept. 25, 1881. 

The events, thoughts and recollections of the time are 
those which we have never before brought into our church; 
they have given a color and tone to our service that is 
wholly unique. In every household that is closely united 
there will always be some days that stand apart in its his- 
tory; there will be days that never came before, and that 
will never come again. If the Nation be a household, as 
it is, so there will be days for it also that will stand abso- 
lutely apart. 

It is impossible now that one should not feel the senti- 
ments, the thoughts, the mingling of intense sadness with 
the consciousness of nobleness that has filled these last 
days. All that we can do to-day is to come together to talk 
with one another of the common grief, to think together of 
the man whom God has called to Himself, and to look for- 
ward to the mercy that He has for all. 

The President of the United States is dead at the hand 
of an assassin— not by one sudden blow, but after long 
weeks of watching and of painful alternations of hope and 
despair. He is gone; his death is something new in the 
history of America; it stands by itself; let us think of it 

(127) 



128 THE MAN OF HIS TIME. 

as loving our President who is gone and Goc' who has thu& 
manifested Himself to him and to us. He has been and 
always will be ours; he is ours in a peculiar sense; we 
have for him a special feeling of familiarity. His life cov- 
ered the last half century, and as we look back over those 
lifty years, I think we all feel that there have been no fifty 
years in the history of our country or of the world in 
which it has been such a privilege to live. The best char- 
acteristics of men have been called forth; the world has 
never seemed to have so noble a future before it; in attain- 
ing that future the life that has just ended here has had no 
inconspicuous part. 

We cannot but let our minds run back, this morning, 
over the life of President Garfield. When he reached 
active manhood the national crime of slavery' was just 
beginning to emerge into the necessary activity by which it 
was to be crushed out. He was on the side of the anti- 
slavery cause. He lived just too late to be one of those 
noble men who, when that cause seemed hopeless, lifted up 
their voices and declared this country must be free. In the 
year in which the war broke out he was 30 years old; it was 
impossible that such a man should not be in the service of 
his country. He was a brave soldier who left the army to 
streno-then it from the floor of Cono^ress. He was identified 
with the drafts, with the emanci]mtion of the black men, 
with the opinion that the liberated slave must be a citizen. 
By-and-by, when the war was stopped, there came other 
associations. The South was to be educated and reconciled, 
the financial obligations of the country were to be honored 
and redeemed. There has been no large cause in all the 
fifteen years since the war in which the heart of Garfield 
was not interested, and for the support of which his voice 
was not heard. We all know the story of his election, the 
history of his short administration, the dreadful manner of 
his death. What shall we say of his life and character? 



THE MAN OF HIS TIMi:. 129 

In the first place, we cannot but remember bow truly he 
was a man of his time. He recognized what was the next 
thing to be done. His recognition of what God was doing, 
and, therefore, of what a servant of God should be doing, 
is a striking feature iii bis history. Faithful to human 
freedom, loyal to the Union,* faithful to the honesty of the 
couutr3% insistent upon the purity of the Government, and 
determined that it sbould not be in the interest of a few 
but in that of the whole people — standing before all these 
issues, he quailed before none of them. With that record 
he stands in history glorified, indeed, by the death he has 
died, but having his real claim to fame in his eloquent, 
earnest, unswerving allegiance through all his life to these 
causes. ' 

It is necessary that we should look not simply at this 
public life, but at the personal characteristics of the man. 
Think how the people have been studying him; think how 
throuo-h the closed door of his sick chamber they have stud- 
ied him and understood him as scarcely anybody else has 
been understood. His intellectual life seems to have been 
singularly interesting. If there has been in the country 
any intellectnal history that is thoroughly symmetrical it 
is this. He combined to a marvelous degree the practical 
and the philosophical. 

There has been no man of afiTairs who so understood the 
philosophy underlying the things that lay about him. That 
is the secret of the power that made his intellectual life 
strono- in the nation. There is also something beautiful 
about his moral life. He was not spared from temptation, 
but he has shown that it is possible for a man to live among 
us and be preserved from yielding to temptation. In the 
life of Garlield there was a positive devotion that saved him 
from those temptations under which his brethren, with 
broken reputations, were tumbling about him. 

9 



^ 



130 THE MAN OF HIS TIME. 

Then there came his social nature. It was genuine; it 
was the unsonMit utterance of his love. If he had o^one on 
to old aixe he would always have (^uthered others around 
him to receive from him lessons of the past, IIo had a 
cordial sympathy witli humanit\% which showed itself in a 
friendly way to those who came in contact with him, and 
so those who were near him most loved him most. This is 
the highest eulogy of a man who led both a public and a 
private life. 

Around him was a life of culture and refinement. He 
carried into the field with him a copy of Horace; he stole 
away from dull and nnimportant debates in Congress into 
the library to dip into the rich wells of English literature. 
That meant enlargement and refinement of life. Hiri 
thought was as fine as a woman's and as strong as that of a 
man. He was shaping the destiny of the Nation and of 
the world; his reputation, therefore, is not liard to account 
for. 

And there is something else — the deep religiousness of 
President Garfield, with a profound honor for God, with a 
sincere love for Jesus Christ. Having united himself early 
in life with one of the simplest and smallest, but one of 
the most earnest and true religious denominations in our 
land, of it he lived an obedient servant of Jesus Christ. 
That religion was always present with him. The man who 
loved God and knew God has gone to God. These are char- 
acteristics of him; as we run over them we see they are not 
those of brilliant deeds. No man can tell when he began 
to be famous — when the country began to trust him as it 
did. Is there nothing noble in a reputation like this, stand- 
ing before tlie world, made up of characteristics of admi- 
rable humanity — a reputation that is a combination in their 
mightiest pro])ortion of those things which all true men 
strive for? He trusted and believed in his countrymen and 



THE MAN OF HIS TIME. 131 

in the world ; there was shown the great power that enabled 
him to use all the characteristics of that life that has just 
been ended. 

If one conld stand now before the young men of Ameri- 
ca — those of the country rich only in their intellectual and 
moral attainments and possibilities, those of the cities par- 
alyzed by the material riches they have not won — what 
would one want to put before them but the character of 
James A. GarKeld ? Let them know that in this Nation in 
which God has set their lives any man may run the road of 
truth and honor. Let them know from this life that it is 
possible to live in public life and to be honest; that where 
subtlety is futile, simplicity is great; that the country has 
called a straightforward man to its Presidential chair. 
Every man may be true, brave, earnest and simple; his 
country will honor him, and if it does not make him Pres- 
ident, his influence will be felt through all time and will be 
for lasting good. • 

I have talked of Mr. Garfield as if he had passed away 
from us b}'^ some common fate. The dreadful tragedy that 
has closed that life, has caused a revelation of his character 
that otherwise might have been unseen except by the eye 
of God. The Nation grows strong by great sorrows. It 
has been stimulated by the struggle with the great Kebel- 
lion, by the slaying of that other President ; it must be 
that it has something else of which to rid itself, that this 
life should be laid down to raise us up. This sorrow will 
leave for us a great fame and reputation in the land ; it is 
a great thing for a nation to have one more man set in its 
pantheon. When we assemble to-morrow at the hour 
when the President's remains are laid in the ground, we 
should remember what his soul is doing ; we should re- 
member the influence with which he goes forth into the 
history of the country ; we should remember the vast and 



132 THE MAN OF HIS TIME. 

unknown, but fascinating service into which he goes as the 
child of God. To-day let us sit around his coffin and say 
one to another, " He was faithful unto death." God has 
given unto him the crown of life. May God give us each 
the same faith and the same reward. 



A WATION MOURNS. 



By Ex-Gov. C. K. Davis. 



Delivered at the Memorial Services in St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 26, 1881. 

A NATION mourns to-day. A people goes with slow and 
measured steps through streets made sombre with the trap- 
pings of woe, under funeral arches, to the measures of dis- 
consolate music, wailing its farewell lamentations, to bury 
and to praise — 

" the ruins of the nohlest man 

That ever lived in the tide of times." 

The world is darkened to us. The designs of Providence 
move to their appointed ends through so vast an orbit that 
we cannot see through our tears the season of fruitage from 
such a desolation as that wliich this eclipse has caused. 
We somehow feel as if our very institutions are tainted 
by complicity with this monstrous crime, and are accessa- 
ries to it, and that the whole responsibility cannot be 
bounded by the nature of the vulgar murderer whose hand 
has drawn a pall over tlie land. It is as if some ancient 
fate, working to its ends through the agencies of inno- 
cence and guilt alike, had fulfilled a remorseless destiny and 
smitten down the dynasty of free government, while, like 
the chorus of some classic tragedy, a people chants the 
words of comfortless mourning. All are here. The labor- 

(133) 



VU A NATION MOURNS. 

er, the scholar, to whom no like catastroplie is told by histo- 
ry, the statesmen saddening over the fact that within twen- 
ty years two presidents have been murdered the business 
man, the woman, and the little child, wide-eyed with won- 
der and with grief — all are here to mourn. 

The sermon, the eulogy, the dirge, the threnody will end, 
and the dead President will pass into history, with all his 
human faults atoned for, by his sacrifice. History often 
falsely sees the character of a man through the adit of such 
a death, for there is no prospective so distorting. It is 
probable that Garfield will always stand in this illusory and 
scenic light, and it is well, perhaps, for the force of exam- 
ple, that this should be so. Death teaches no finer precepts 
than are taught by the lives and death of men who, good 
and pure, and dedicated apparently to the consummation 
of a ffreat career, are thus brought down untimely. It was 
so with him. He had finished no career. He had not fal- 
len the leader of any disastrous political measure. He had 
been conspicuous, though not pre-eminent, in the press of 
political leadership. That he was capable to do all that 
men more self-assertive aspired to do every one knew. 
Still it was felt for years that he had at no time put forth 
all his strength. Upon all questions of statesmanship he 
stood in the van of the most advanced thought. Upon the 
fleeting questions of the hour, those mere expediences of 
the moment, he was seldom heard to speak. 

He seemed to be a man in preparation and ripening 
slowly for the performance of some great, ultimate duty, 
which should surpass the daily tasks of other men, however 
well performed, and thus round out tliat crescent life to 
an orb of never fading light. But this was not to be. He 
has been stayed in his course. All hope of success or dread 
of failure is at an end, and we are free to consider the 
example of what this man might have become. From 



A NATION MOURNS. 135 

earliest life lie was an assiduous student, and thus became 
next perhaps to the younger Adams, the most variously 
instructed man of all our presidents. It is exemplary to 
know the wide range of his studies. The classics had 
modeled his mind to antique simplicity and beauty of 
proportion. No speaker of English, on either side of the 
ocean, was his superior in the command of its resources. 
Whatever was to be known of the operation of those 
political forces of conservation or destruction which in all 
ao-es work upon all governments he knew. He was a 
student both diverse and minute. He was graced with the 
adornments of literature as well as armored in its panoply. 
It was pecular to this man that all he knew he knew how 
to use. He played many parts and received a plaudit in 
all. He had been a laborer with his hands, a college pres- 
ident, a theologian, a soldier, and a statesman. Each vo- 
cation was but a process in constructing the perfected man, 
and now that all externals have been taken away and the 
work has ended, we can see an edifice of such manhood, so 
widely spread, so spacious and so high that there are few 
such in tlie realm of history. The natural elements of the 
man were plainly discernible through the pellucid sim- 
plicity of his character. His perception of duty was clear, 
and his tendency to its performance was a moral gravita- 
tion. 

He doubtless had great ambition, but it was to noble 
ends; it was the ambition which honors seek and which . 
runs not alter honors. Keady to serve but not self-serving, 
would be an appropriate motto for the man. He was not 
that padded statesman, too well known in our day, made 
up of newspaper couimendations. Nor can any taint be 
found in his career of that dastardly self-promotion which 
wins its infomous way over tlie destruction of other men— 
that caititf envy which spends its malignant force in the 



136 A NATION MOURNS. 

despoilment of larger and better natures. His logical pro- 
cesses seldom consisted in scholastic ability of deduction, 
but instinctive sense and exposition of the true relation of 
facts and situations to principals. They were constructive, 
selective and analogical, and the result was that his conclu- 
sions and the ways by which he reached them, argued for 
themselves as a perfect piece of architecture does. 

This cursory estimate of this scholar, soldier and states- 
man would be imperfect if it failed to recognize an endow- 
ment which he had, and which is rarely possessed by men 
of affairs. He was endowed with the imaginative faculty 
to an extent unequalled by an American statesman. It was 
subtle, far seeing, and brought into correlative relations 
things most remote and diverse. The tributary forces of 
his scholarship were therefore always at his command, and 
the result was a wealth of illustrative power in which he 
resembled Edmund Burke. Who will ever forget the sen- 
tence which fell from his lips upon the tumultuary conven- 
tion at Chicago: " But I remember it is not the billows, but 
the calm level of the sea, from which all heights and depths 
are measured." And that convention, measuring its duty 
from that standard, chose the man who doubtless repre- 
sented best the calm level of popular thought. With his 
accession to the presidency an exceeding peace spread over 
the nation. Prosperity opened all her garners. It seemed 
as if our years of trial were past and gone, and that under 
• the rule of this large-natured, generous man, the Saturnian 
days had come again. 

But in a moment all was changed. The President, who 
by constitution and action, was showing himself to be an 
antao-onist to every corroding political evil of the times, 
who combined the virtues of our best statesmen with the 
endowments of the ripe learning by which States are made 
great and governed well, was shot down by a disappointed 



A NATION MOURNS. 137 

office-seeker in the capital of the Nation. It was a brutal 
murder, like those assassinations which mark the annals of 
every corrupt state when office and plunder become the 
controlling forces of administration. 

It becomes us at this moment, when sorrow makes everj 
mind capable of instruction, to learn the lesson of the hour. 
For sometimes nations can be taught only by calamity, and 
this instructor cites us before her now. We must raise our 
processes of popular government to a higher plane, through 
reforms deep and permanent, or we are but at the beginning 
of calamities like this. It is the instruction of all time that 
when a government becomes personal, when it becomes 
merely the instrument of personal aggrandizement through 
few or many offices, corruption and violence strike hands 
together for its destruction. Since the foundation of this 
government three political murders have been committed, 
and the victim iir every instance has been the personal ex- 
ponent of what was best in public sentiment, killed by one 
of whom what was worst, had taken full possession. 

Harrison, Lincoln and Garfield, each in their time rep- 
resented the elements of thought which tended best toward 
our national greatness and perpetuity. Do not misunder- 
stand me as alluding here to any of those temporary and 
incidental distinctions in the workings of American thought 
which have the name of party. The occasion and the fact 
prohibit this. I mean to say that these were men whose 
abounding love of country had wedded them to principles 
which rose above the fleeting party distinctions of the 
hour, and whose duty and love it was to place our institu- 
tions on a more lasting basis than mere party sentiment 
ever can. Each of these great men was a victim to the 
personal politics which preceded and disgraced their times. 

These evils have debauched the public conscience for 
many years. The strife to get office, to retain office, or to 



138 A NATION MOURNS. 

dispossess from office, is the master passion of our politics. 
Our statesmen have become too often mere leaders of a 
personal following, who fight in the hope of reward. Our 
politics consist in mean advantages, in disreputable practi- 
ces, in the use of men, in the assassination of character, 
and the enjoyment of office. For many years not one dis- 
tinctive political issue has stirred the stagnant, rotting level 
of our political life. This lust and self-seeking for office 
has become the pyaemia of our system, and, predict recov- 
ery as we may, the patient is dying of political assassina- 
tion. 

The shot which has laid our hopes so low could never 
have been tired in the better times of the Republic. We have 
our duty to gather to our hearts the bloody instructions of 
our loss. Death has left us this to do. It grasped Garfield's 
noble heart and it is stilled forever, never more to beat 
high in triura})hant anticipation of a country made greater 
and better by his powers. It trod the chambers of that 
massive brain and thought, and the soul left their earthly 
palace to live eternal in the heavens in a house not made 
with hands. It smote with its " petrific mace" that manly 
form, and it ceased to be the tabernacle of life. It is a 
sight to call up prophets to walk the land crying wo! wof 
to all who live therein, for the evangelist of murder has 
come. Who could believe that here where schools abound, 
here where all men are free, here where religion teaches 
from more than ten thousand pulpits the lessons of heaven 
to earth, here where the awful sword and the righteous 
scales of justice are suspended high and untarnished over 
all, where thought and speech are free, that the fountain of 
official life could be changed to a pool of blood? 

The o-euius of free government mourns over her slaugh- 
tered son. She calls up from the hells of history the 
assassins of past times for an excuse and parallel, but she 



A NATION MOURNS. 139 

finds none. They say, cite us not — we struck at evils when 
we struck at men ; and she says as she gathers the ashes 
.of Lincoln and of Garfield, and lays them reverently in the 
everlasting urn of history: " O, my children, it is you who 
have made possible these acts! The lessons which J taught 
you, yon have forgotten! You are depraved with pride, lust 
for power, wicked ambitions, hatred, malice and all un- 
charitableness, and here is the bloody end. Unto your 
care, O people, I committed my choicest son from the 
sweet security of domestic life and set him to rule over you. 
He was o-ifted with the learning of ages; whatever was 
taught by the records of the ancient republic, or of later 
times, he knew for you. 

"The love of country burned in that stainless heart like an 
altar flame; in him the North forgot its rancor, and the 
South its defeat. Charity ministered at his side with her 
sweetest works; prosperity was spreading over you like 
summer over a sterile land; all was well except your own 
rancorous hearts, and it is thus ye give him back! Listen, 
while I repeat the lesson which you must learn to live. 
States sink beneath the tide of time, not alone under the 
foreign invader, nor under the usurping ruler; nor under 
the debauched church, nor under providential annihilation. 
They are lost by their own abdication of that public spirit 
which works to noble ends. Show me that nation whose 
heart has become corrupt, wlio has made its liberties a pro- 
curess to its personal lusts for money or for place — where 
fraud rules in the mart, hypocrisy pollutes the temple, and 
corruption putrifies in the councils, and I will show you a 
people whose feet have taken hold on the paths wJiich lead 
into the Gehenna of the nations — and so surely as I live ye 
\hve become such a people." 

Well will it be for us to heed tliese warning words. Let 
us here, at this chastening hour, absolve ourselves from our 



140 A NATION MOURNS. 

rancor, our self-love, onr party hate, our malignant greed 
for office, and come to know that we have that to save and 
perpetuate which is greater and more precious than our 
transitory personal interests — the state, our earthly all in 
all. 



GARFIELD'S DOMESTIC LIFE. 



By Rev. L. W. Brigham. 



Delivered at the Memorial Services in LaCrosse, Wis., Sept. 2(5, 188L 

Ladies and Gentlemen: — I come to help weave the gar- 
land we place upon the brow of our illustrious dead. My 
theme touches the most tender and ennobling elements 
of his character. However great Mr. Garfield was as a sol- 
dier, scholar or statesman, he will be longest remembered 
as a loving obedient son, a devoted husband; as a true- 
hearted man in all the social relations. Unfortunately, the 
public know but little of this man in private life, except 
what was manifested during the last few weeks of pain and 
impending death. 

We know that so ^^oble and true a man as he, in all pub- 
lic trusts, must have made a good and pure home. All 
that we have seen during these last sad weeks confirms our 
expectations, and we understand and appreciate all Mr. 
Garfield's good qualities and sound religious principles. 
But what has touched and moved our hearts has been his 
tender consideration for those he loved more even than his 
own life. Not the least of his public service was his pure 
home-life, that to-day blesses and exalts every home in our 
land. The Amei'ican people have never had such an expe- 
rience before when we were all brought together around 

(141) 



142 GARFIELD'S DOMESTIC LIFE. 

one bedside of snifering. The sick chamber of our Presi- 
dent has its counterpart in every household. It recalls 
the hours of watching, waiting, hoping, praying and be- 
reavement through M'hich we have passed. 

The real life of Mr. Garfield centered in his domestic re- 
lations, and his highest inspirations were drawn from the 
home. Mr. Garfield, like most men who have attained to 
eminence, could attribute his success to a good mother, and 
to a wise and fitting choice of a companion for life, and 
such was his nobility that he could prize a mother's love, 
and appreciate a good wife, making home the most sacred 
spot on earth. 

Every step in his career from boyhood to manhood shows 
his first thought was of the loved ones at home. And as 
the honors come, his thought is of the pleasure it conferred 
on the home friends. They could never divide or alienate 
his heart from the old home. He was one of the few 
statesmen to whom a word of love and commendation 
from his mother and wife, was dearer than the honors of 
the world or shouts of the multitude. His tenderness of 
heart and Mrs. Garfield's wifely devotion have sanctified 
every home in the land, and there burns to-day upon 
the altar of every heart a purer, truer, holier and diviner 
love. His love had been tried by the ambitions and hon- 
ors of the world, and lastly in the fiery furnace of heroic 
suflfering. 

His first act, after the oath of office had been adminis- 
tered in Washington, was to kiss his aged mother and wife. 
Here was he true to life. The first impulse of his noble 
heart in that supreme moment, when ci'owned with the 
highest honors the world could give, turned toward those 
he loved, and who, more than all the world besides, were 
interested in his promotion. They shared his honors as 
they had his cares and labors. The son and husband was 



GARFIELD'S DOMESTIC LIFE. 143 

here greater than the President or statesman; his heart- 
bonds stronger than all other ties. It was an honor to his 
manhood that he should first remember her who bore him; 
toiled and prayed for his success. She sowed in tears, that 
he might reap in honors. 

He was the proud realization of all her mother-hopes, 
iind no other person could so fully rejoice in his prosper- 
ity as that dear old mother, or, she who had toiled by his 
side through the days of poverty, darkness and obscurity, a 
help-meet, indeed ; one now a rightful sharer in his har- 
vest of honors. Who, more than they could feel for him; 
nnd what more sublime exhibition of manhood than, when 
James A. Garfield, the President of 50,000,000 people, 
gave this testimonial of the tenderness of his heart and no- 
bility of his nature, in thus recognizing his mother and 
wife. All the subsequent events show that this act was a 
spontaneous tribute of a man, whose domestic nature was 
the strongest cord tliat bound him to life. It was this ten- 
derness of love, this beauty of home life that has touched 
all hearts, so that his death became a personal bereave- 
ment to every man, woman and child. 

Every home should mourn his loss and consecrate itself 
to a purer and diviner love. When stricken down by the 
assassin his first thought was of the wife, and so through all 
those weary days of pain, and patient waiting for death, the 
anxiety and solicitude of his heart was toward those dearer 
than life itself. On that fatal jnorning he says : "I had 
rather die than that she should have a relapse." In the 
heroic struggle for life, his heart turned toward the old home 
of his early years, full of tender memories and hallowed 
associations. Even when the hour had come that the silver 
cord was loosed, and his bark sent over the dark waters, the 
honors of the world and grand possibilities for future use- 
fulness, now passing away forever, where lost from con- 



144 



GARFIELD'S DOMESTIC LIFE. 



t 



sciousneris; but there survived to the last muinent a vision 
of the old home, and the last dim consciousness of the dying 
hour placed him in the family circle, surrounded by mother, 
wife and children. 

Thus he passed away to the higher life, there to wait till the 
home above is completed, and the family gathered in, one 
by one. 



■J 



t 



A 



A PICTURE. 



By Hon. John H. Ckaig. 



Orator of the day at the Memorial Service, San Francisco, Sept. 26, 1881. 

Ladies and Gentlemen: — As the beginnine^ of these sad 
memorial services, what can I say to yon? There are times 
when silence is more eloquent than any words which mor- 
tal tongue can ut1;er. Though these lips of mine were 
touched with sacred fire, in vain would they try to give ex- 
pression to the unspeakable pathos of this hour. After 
long weeks of agonizing suspense, the heart-rending trage- 
dy is ended — the illustrions sniferer is at rest; and as the 
scene closes at his grave, and (';e curtain falls, the world is 
in tears. 

Our physical presence is here to-day to do him honor, 
but our thoughts and our hearts are far away, where at this 
hour the mortal remains of our dead President are com- 
mitted to the tomb. Our eyes look across the intervenino- 
space, and behold the autumn sun shining from heaven on 
the solemn, imposing scene. -Before his open grave, un- 
covered, the Nation stands in tears, the majesty of these free 
and mighty States is bowed in reverence over it; and the 
homage of the civilized world, like an invisible presence, 

10 (145) 



146 A PICTURE. 

consecrates tlie beautiful spot, and makes it holy ground 
forever more. 

"Hush! the dead march wails in the people's ears; 

The black earth yawns, thi; mortal diaappeara. 

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust; 

And he Ls gone who seemed so great; 

Wearing upon his brow a truer crown 

Than any wreath that man can weave him." 

This 18 not the liour to speak of his renown. We forget 
the glory of his example, and the inspiration of his fame, 
in the sad thought that liis living presence has passed away 
forever from the earth. The hour of tVesh sorrow is not 
the hour for eulogy. The universal grief of tlie Nation and 
the world speaks his eulogy, and at the eloquence of that 
grief the most gifted tongue falters and is mute. That 
grief has come to us all with the force of a personal be- 
reavement. It has touched the hearts of men in this and 
other lands, and awakened them to better inspirations. 
Never was sorrow so universal and profound. Never was 
such homage paid at any mortal shrine — to any mortal name. 
Surely the man whose death has put the world in mourn- 
ing needs no eulogy. 

We are fast making history — our country is but a cen- 
tury old. We are yet in the morn.ing of our national life. 
The full noontide of our national glory has not yet bright- 
ened the heavens above us. But our history is filled with 
achievements and examples which the world cannot afford 
to lose. Great events are crowded upon each other, which 
are shaping the world's destiny, and marking its progress. 
And great names have " leaped into the light," to shine 
forevermore. The names of heroes who, in defense of the 
risfht, have led the front of battle — of statesmen, "Who 
knew the seasons when to take occasion by the hand and 
make the bounds of freedom wider yet." 

But this heart-rending tragedy is the saddest, most pa- 



A PICTURE. 147 

tlietic event in our history. Its effect on our future as a 
nation we know not. Tliat will depend on the manner in 
which we improve tlie great and solemn lesson which it 
teaches. But this we know, that the example of the illus- 
trious victim will be a lofty inspiration to all coming times, 
and generations yet unborn, as they read the page where it 
is written, will proudly weep, and find his name the dear- 
est, tenderest memory in all our history. 

Look at the picture which that page will present, and let 
me read it. It presents an extreme contrast? It is shaded 
from the extreme of human guilt to that qf human excel- 
lence and p;lory. It is black with the darkest dye of hu- 
man crime. It is stained with innocent blood, richer than 
the blood of kings. It is blotted with human tears. Is 
illumed with the tender light of human love, and radiant 
with glory born of suffering endured with a gentle, heroic 
patience almost divine. As it is presented to the world, no 
wonder that all hearts are stirred to their profoundest 
depths. There seems to be wanting not one single circum- 
stance to heighten the pathos of the sad, tragical event. 
We shudder as we think of the vile, guilty wretch cower- 
ing in his cell. We pity and do homage to the great and 
martyred victim. Our tongues falter and our eyes are 
dimmed as we speak of the bereaved, orphaned children, 
the faithful, heroic wife, and the dear old mother, mourning 
for her noble son, and longing to lay down her weary head 
beside him in the grave. 

The most touching thing connected with the assassina- 
tion of President Garfield, next to his amazing sufferings 
and the gentle, heroic, amazing patience with which they 
were endured is the glimpse which it gave to the world 
into the privacy of his family life, and the tender relations 
which it disclosed. This, more than his high position and 
his fame, has won for hiui the homage of all true and loyal 



> 



148 A PICTURE. 

hearts. For we instinctively know that he, who in a long 
exalted public career, and even in the highest place on 
earth, is true to the gentle virtues of home, and the duties 
of a tender father, a loving liusband. and a noble son, must 
be a true, a good and noble man. Rising by his own un- 
aided powers from the humblest, lowliest lot in life to the 
most exalted place on earth, and filling his high seat with 
a gentle dignity and a lofty purpose, he was the representa- 
tive of the supreme sovereignty of the American people. 

But he was something jnore — he was the representative 
and type of gentle, cultured, resolute, self-reliant, noble 
American manliood. When the free choice of a great and 
free people is fixed on such a man, exalting him to be their 
ruler, no crowned and sceptered king, born of royal blood, 
to the heritage of an empire, commands from the world 
such honor while he nobly lives, or such homage when he 
nobly dies. 

The hearts of the people all over this broad land, in the 
south as well as the north, are closer together to-day than they 
ever were before, joined in the sacred fellowship of a com- 
mon sorrow. Past alienations are forgotten; old resent- 
ments are quenched in tears, and all dissentions are buried 
in the crrave of him who has not lived or died in vain. Let 
us learn the great and solemn lesson of this hour, and follow 
the impulses and inspirations which it awakens, and so shall 
we be ablcj even in this dark hour of national bei'eavement, 
to forecast the years to come, 

" And find in loss a gain to match." 



* 



l^i 



GARFIELD'S LEGACY. 



By Rabbi Lilienthal. 



Delivered at the iremorial Service in Cincinnati, Sept. 26, 1881. 

Shakespeake, in his Romeo and Juliet, says: 

' All things, that we ordained festival, 
Turn from their office U> black funeral; 
Our instruments to melancholy bells. 
Our wedding cheer to a sad burial feast; 
Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change. 
Our blooming flowers serve for a bury'd corse, 
And all things change them to the contrary." 

The English bard has forstalled our grief, our mourning, 
a Nation's wailing! Who of us will and can ever forget 
that Monday night, when the bells of the city, with their 
heartless iron tongues, announced the death-knell of the 
Nation's patient! We had hoped against hope; we had 
had faith against fate — but then we added gloomy silence 
to the silent night, and lifted the tearful eyes unto the stars, 
and realized the crushing words sung by Barrett : 

"I tell you, hopeless grief is passionless. 
That only men, incredulous of despair. 
Half-taught in anguish, through the midnight air 
Beat upward to God's throne in loud access 
Of shrieking and reproach ! " 

Shrieking upward ! it was so natural. A Nation's cry of 
agony and despair ought to be forgiven ; but let us be 

(149) 



16J GARFIELD'S LEGACY. 

silent, and listen in decjjest humility to the great lesson, 
given in sublime eloquence by our lamented martyr Presi- 
dent, when he said : 

" The world's history is a divine poem, of which the his- 
tory of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its 
strains have been pealing along down the centuries, and 
though there have been mingled the discords of warring 
cannon and dying men, yet to the philosopher and histo. 
rian — the humble listener — there has been a divine melody 
running through the song, which speaks of hope and hal- 
cyon days to come." 

This was our Garfield's faith, this his unshaken hope, 
this the word of comfort which he sends from his coffin 
and his grave, to his mourning countrymen. 

Alas, we stand in bitter need of such a comforting, and 
cheering admonition. Let us listen to it; let us mind it, 
for it comes from the greatest and most impressive pulpit 
— the coffin ! And not only we, the American people, his 
people, the whole world needs it; the parliament of man, 
the federation of the world which is thrilled with horror, 
which amidst the sighs and tears stands stupefied at the un- 
natural, foul and strange murder of our President. 

Kings and emperors, in their marble palaces and on their 
golden thrones, must tremblingly ask : What will be our 
lot, our future, when the man not installed by the grace of 
God, but by the free choice of a free people, cannot escape 
tlie assassin's dagger, the assassin's bullet ? 

And the nations of the world, panting for freedom, must 
ask : What is all this boasted liberty for, when the chief 
of a Government of the people, by the people, and for 
the people, can be made the target of ruthless, premeditated 
murder ? Shall mankind not despair ? Must you not 
shroud the starry banner of human right and liberty in 
deep, deep mourning ? 



GARFIELD'S LEGACY. 151 

~^o such shrouding ! No surrender ! for, from the coffin- 
pulpit resound the other great words which James A. Gar- 
field uttered, with patriotic voice and lofty spirit, when 
hearing of the death of Lincoln: " God reigns and the Gov- 
ernment at Washington still lives !" 

This is the great legacy he left to his people. These are 
the memorable words wliich the mourning yet grateful Na- 
tion shall engrave on the monument to be erected to his 
blessed memory. No, rest in peace, thou Martyr of the 
people; over thy grave, in yonder beautiful cemetery, shall 
shine like the eternal stars in heaven, that starry banner, 
for which thou hast fought, for which thou hast bled, under 
whose embracing folds thou hast died! 

I shall not speak of his wonderful career, it has been told 
and repeated by thousands and ten thousands of tongues* 
The world is full of his praise. How betittingl3' have the 
press and merchants of the metropolis expressed the Na- 
tion's sentiment when they said: 

" In the death of President Garfield the Nation loses one 
of its prominent citizens, a worthy representative of what- 
ever is best in it, whose career has been singularly typical 
of the noblest American aspiration and success." 

He will always be remembered, not only as a statesman 
of large experience and commanding abilities; not only as 
an orator, whose words of eloquent wisdom were eflective 
and often controlling in debate; not only as a patriot soldier 
whose skillful generalship and unhesitating courage had 
been signally shown on the bloodiest fields, but also, more 
affectionately as a faithful man who had risen by his own 
efforts from the humblest station to the highest position; 
who had gained rare culture in spite of the sharp limita- 
tions of poverty, and who, having honored and adorned every 
office committed to him, has endeared himself as never be- 
fore to the hearts of his countrymen by the fortitude with 



152 GARFIELD'S LEGACY, 

which in the eighty days of his suffering he has borne pain 
and faced without fear an imminent death. 

Tliis is the verdict of the country; what can we add to 
it but the beautiful words of Ilowe: 

" What can I pay thee for this noble uaage 
But grateful praise 7 so Heaven itself is paid." 

I shall not dwell on the great success which in all depart- 
ments of our Government distinguished his short career as 
our President. The Nation felt encouraged, hopeful, look- 
ing for still greater achievement. "We rather say with 
Franklin: 

— " To the generous mind 
The heaviest debt is that of gratitude, 
When it is not in our power to repay it" 

Still prompted by this filial and unpayable gratitude, the 
Nation throngs around his coffin and grave, to pay him the 
last tribute of honor and affection. The representatives of 
the people will accompany tha earthly remains to their 
resting-place. Mountains of floral tributes will testify to 
the love, respect and veneration in which he was held by 
his mourninor fellow-citizens; and from the iitlantic to the 
Pacific the melancholy bells, the sullen dirges, the gloomy 
processions will announce: " We mourn the Nation's loss." 

But the flowers will fade; the sound of the dirges will 
pass away; the mourning crowds will disperse, and will this 
be all by which we intend either to lienor his memory or to 
profit by the terrible lesson of his death? 

Listen again to the warning voice, coming from his grave: 
"God reigns and the Government at Washington still 
lives;" and must live. Yes, must live; and it is our duty 
the sacred duty of the living ones, to guard and preserve it, 
and to execute the will of the departed Chief. 

I have read this week some of the infamous doctrines first 
planted on American ground by Aaron Burr, and thence- 



GARFIELD'S LEGACY. 153 

forth spread with baneful activity throughout the land. 
Here are some of these maxims: 

" Politics is a ^arae, the prizes of which are offices and 
<;on tracts." 

"Fidelity to party must be the sole virtue of a politician." 

"No man must be allowed to suffer on account of his 
fidelity to his party, no matter how odious to the people' 
he may make himself." 

"The end and aim of the professional politician is to 
keep great men down and put little men up. Little men, 
owing all to tlie wire-puller, will be governed by him. 
Great men, having ideas and convictions, are perilous even 
to tools." 

This is the cancer which eats at the vitals of the Govern- 
ment and the country. It must be cut out, and marked by 
the dreadful example we have witnessed, the people in its 
majestic sovereignty must rise and must demand the unde- 
layable reform ; then we shall see day instead of the night of 
the grave, and the owls shall fly back into the haunts of 
darkness and nothingness. 

Thus Washington's Government shall live, indeed; thus 
and then we shall love thy memor}^ sainted martyr; and in, 
the name of all of us, I close with Carlyle's verses ; 

" I find a pious grratitude disperse 

Within my soul ; and every thought to him 

Engenders a warm sigh within me, which, 

Like curls of holy incense, overtake 

Each other in my bosom, and enlarge, 

With their embrace, his sweet remembrance." 

Farewell ! Farewell ! 



GARFIELD-THE TYPICAL AMERICAN. 



By Prof. J. C. Shattuck. 



Delivered at the Memorial Service in Greeley, Col., Sept 26, 1881. 

James A. Garfield was a typical American. He was 
born amid the forests. A great many generations, since 
the settlement of Plymouth and Jamestown, have been born 
in the forests, and have given the strength of their arms for 
the rendering of those forests fit for the habitation of man. 

He was typical in his birth, and in his early boyhood 
learned to swing the axe amid the great trees that grew 
around his father's farm, which strengthened his muscles 
and rendered him vigorous of frame. 

He was typical in the circumstances of his youth. No 
man can read his life, as millions to-day are hearing it, 
without being convinced that these circumstances and 
struggles were necessary to make him the man he was. 
Yet no circumstances could have swallowed up such a God- 
endowed man as James A. Garfield. I don't believe, how- 
ever, that if he had been born to wealth and position, if he 
had been able to pave his way without difiiculty through 
school and college with the temptations and surroundings 
of wealth, that he would have been less enervated, for I be- 
lieve that to give him the fiber he possessed, and which 
made him essentially the great man that he was, standing 

(154) 



GARFIELD— THE TYPICAL AMERICAN. 155- 

prominently among the great men of the earth, there was 
needed just that determination which he early formed, and 
which was greatly fostered by the circumstances of his 

youth. 

He had determined on a college course, and was told that 
probably in the course of twelve years, and by hard labor, 
he could work his way through college, without exterior 
help. Was he daunted? Oh, no! Says his biographer: 
'' Every other impulse of his life became absorbed in that 
one— ' I will go through college;'" and he went through 
college — not in twelve years, but in eight — working day 
and night, at farm-work, carpentering, or anything that 
came to his hand; never an idle moment until he got 
through his college career. The circumstances of his edu- 
cation were fortunate in this, that thereby he came to know 
Mark Hopkins. 

On one occasion General Garfield said, "I rejoice, my 
friends, to see the great institutions of learning that are 
springing up out of the munificence of my countrymen all 
over this fair land, but I say to you that if I had it to do 
over a^min — to choose where I should attend college, and 
all these were to open their magnificent doors to me, and 
here stood Williams' old log cabin with Mark Hopkins in 
it as President, that would be college enough for me." 
Throuo-h our beloved martyred President, the influence 
of that one man, Mark Hopkins, will go on and 
on, blessing the human race long after the materials 
which now make the grand edifice called Williams College 
shall have crumbled into forgotten dust. So, too, with 
Garfield. He was typical in that he was among the very 
best, and his influence has changed the course of hun- 
dreds of young men. No one could come before him and 
listen to him without being drawn out of himself and up 
into the higher, nobler, purer sphere where he walked, 



156 GAJiFIKLD~THE TYPICAL AMERICAN. 

and into tlie sweeter utmosphere wliicli he breathed. 

[The speaker here related the incident of Garfield's dis- 
obeying orders in regard to delivering up slaves who had 
escaped to our lines at the beginning of the war, and which, 
doubtless, was the first step that led to the proclamation of 
freedom. Also to show his kindness of heart and magna- 
nimity, related the story of the non-commissioned ofiicer 
who went to sleep while guarding the entrance to head- 
quarters, and to whom Garfield apologized for falling over 
him, instead of placing him in the guard-house.] 

One instance more, showing the greatness of this man, 
as well as the clearness and keenness of his judgment: 
You will remember how high the feeling ran, North and 
South, durino- the vear succeeding: the war. General Gar- 
field was in his first term of Oongi-ess, and not so thorough- 
ly known. Here came an issue which many of you will 
remember. Congress had passed an act providing that as 
fast as our lines were extended into the so-called E-ebel 
States that the citizens thereof con Id form what was called 
a loyal government, and become States in the Union again; 
but President Lincoln vetoed the act. Soon after tiie veto 
old Ben Wade and Henry Winter Davis united in a letter 
which they published in the New York Tribune^ very 
sharply and very bitterly criticising Mr. Lincoln for this 
action. General Garfield stood by Wade and against the 
President in this issue. His district upheld the veto and 
condemned the Wade and Davis letter. 

The time drew nigh when the district convention should 
re-nominate Garfield or his successor; certain parties were 
very active, thinking they saw in this position that Garfield 
iiad taken, an opportunity for brushing Garfield out of the 
way. And they worked that thing up so thoroughly and 
"well that when the convention assembled one of their first 



SiAl; FIELD—THE TYPICAL AMERICAN. 157 

acts was to pass a series of resolutions indorsing the Pres- 
ident and censuring Wade — thus involving Garlield. 

Now mark the man. He was a young man, in the prime 
of his manhood, who Jiad set aside a very promising milita- 
ry career, resigning his position as Major General in the 
army, and entered this new field. Now everything looked 
dark for the future. He recognized the dangers of his be- 
ing set aside, and what did he do? He went to the conven- 
tion — not to lobby or button-hole the members, but to ex- 
press his decided opinions in regard to this matter. Be- 
fore his arrival upon the train, these resolutions had been 
passed by a large majority, and when he put in his appear- 
ance at the convention he was invited to address them. 
He only used a few short sentences in which he stated his 
convictions firmly and clearly, placing himself distinctly 
upon the side of Wade in this issue and giving his reasons 
therefor, concisely and pointedly. He then passed from the 
platform down the aisle, through the hall down stairs, on to 
his hotel, and afterwards to the train, supposing that there 
was no possible hope of a re-nomination. But he had vin- 
dicated his manhood. 

This man would not abate one jot of his private judgment 
upon a serious matter; no, not for the united voice of that 
district he loved so truly. What was the result? Ah! the 
master had been there. The leader of the opposition and 
promoter of the resolutions sprung to his feet before the- 
sound of Garfield's footsteps had died away in the hall, and 
said: 

" Mr. President and gentlemen of the convention : a man 
who has the moral courage to beard this convention in that 
manner deserves a nomination, and I move that General 
James A. Garfield be re-nominated by acclamation." And 
it was done, amidst great applause and enthusiasm. Such 
was the power of Garfield's influence, prompted by. a depth 
of manhood and integrity seldom if ever excelled. 



158 GARFIELD—THE TYPICAL AMERICAN. 

During the past eighty days millions of eyes, though 
dimmed with tears, have been going over the record of his 
life, and I dare any man to produce anj^thing that stains 
the honor of this man, from the days of his boyhood until 
this sad nineteenth day of September, when this glorious 
record was closed. James A. Garfield was the highest type 
of a man we have been permitted to see. I have no expec- 
tation of ever again in mjf life seeing in the presidential 
chair a man so blameless in his private life, so noble in 
every phase of his character, so great in all lines of thought, 
and who has so strong a hold upon the hearts of this great 
people, as tliis man Garfield. I rejoice that I have lived to 
see such a man ; I rejoice that I am able to go over his 
career, day by day and year by year, and find it so faultless. 
I commend it to you, young and old. There is not a page 
of this eventful career that even the bitter hate of political 
passion can unfold that is not fair to the eyes and beautiful 
to all mankind. 

He has doi.e remarkable things for th'S country. No 
man of his day gave more careful, thoughtful study to the 
important problems afiecting the welfare of the Republic; 
no man showed better judgment — so ripe and far-seeing. 
How we leaned upon him ! What a sense of security and 
confidence went over the country when we knew that his 
hand was guiding the helm. But to the honor of this man 
the Great Ruler of the Universe has thought it meet to add 
the martyr's crown. Lying there these eleven weeks in 
pain and suffering, he has been such a blessing to the 
United States of America and the civilized world, as neither 
he nor any otuer man could have been in the prime of his 
strength and g^ory. His activities have been stilled that 
the voice of his Creator might the more clearly be heard. 

It IS not what a man does in any one of his great suc- 
cesses that fixes his place among his contemporaries or ia 



GARFIELD-THE TYPICAL AMERICAN. 159 

the judgment of posterity-oh, no! it is that something 
back of all these single actions that we call character; and 
it needed the assassin's pistol and the eighty days of suffer- 
in<T to put the appropriate crown upon this man's brow, to 
ehtw to all the full measure of his power and the character 

he had built up. 

And so, to-day, millions upon millions who gather to 
pay the last sad rites to this great and good and noble man, 
will say, "'Tis well." 



1 



TRUE TO HIMSELF-FALSE TO NONE. 



By Hon. R. F. Pettibone. 



Delivered at the Memorial Services in Burlington, Wis., Sept. 26, 188L 

Less than half a century ago James A. Gartield was a 
babe in his cradle — to-day he is the loved and honored dead 
of this Nation and of humanity. 

What is the power that enabled him to tread this shining 
way from obscurity to world-wide renown ? I know of no 
better answer than may be found in his own words: " Dur- 
ing the twenty years that I have been in public life, I have 
tried to do one thing. Whether I was mistaken or other- 
wise, it has been the plan of my life to follow my convic- 
tions, at whatever personal cost to myself I have repre- 
sented for many years a district in Congress whose appro- 
bation I greatly desired, but, though it may seem perhaps 
a little egotistical to say it, I yet desired still more the ap- 
probation of one person, and his name was Garfield." 

Yes, that is it; that is the secret of his power — true to 
himself, true to his own convictions of duty. And well 
did the world's great poet say: 

To thine ownself be true, 

And it must follow, as the night the day, 

Thou canst not then prove false to any man." 

And the glorious path he trod from the forest clearing 

(160) 



TRUE TO HIMSELF— FALSE TO NONE. 161 

to the AVliite House — from humble oblivion to lame, wide 
as humanity, is open to the humblest. What an inspira- 
tion to every young man burning with the great and noble 
ambitious of life. Thanks to God and the fathers for insti- 
tutions which make it possible that a day-laborer shall be 
chiefest and best valued amongr us. 

We loved the hero for his splendid record written with 
steel amid the carnage and desolation of war. 

We loved him for his wise and brave, his dignified and 
unsullied course in public life during the past twenty 
years, but most of all, we loved him for his high manhood 
displayed in all the relations of life, for his devotion to his 
home, the most sacred spot to him upon earth. O how 
pitiful was his longing for that Mentor home when his 
every nerve was racking pain ! 

And it was time that these old virtues were re-established. 
It is not the style in these later days to reverence an old 
mother. It is gone out of fashion for men to hold their 
wives above all other women, and it is not deemed neces- 
sary to continue the chivalry of love. Social vices abound. 
The home is no longer the dearest and most sacred spot 
upon earth. It is but a place to eat and sleep. But this 
man came bringing his quiet home to the first mansion in 
the land. 

Though a mighty man and a ruler of rulers, his mother 
was honored and reverenced, his wife was loved and cher- 
ished, his children were tenderly cared for, his home was 
his holy of holies — for he remembered that all these were 
a part of him, and had helped to make him what he was. 
O, what a thought for us. Without the home and its in- 
fluences a free government like ours is not possible for a 
day. In the true home center all the powers and forces 
that make men great. And when its pure influences stretim 
forth into the current of public life, we know that the V - 
11 



162 TRUE TO HIMSELF— FALSE TO NOIfE. 

tion is sale — that " the government of the people, bj the 
people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.'* 
The past rises before me like a cloud. I see the babe in 
his humble cradle in the home of provertv and toil ; I see 
the 3'outh struggling for daily bread in the sweat of his 
brow; I see the young man step by step working his way 
forward throu":h all discourajyino: hindrances to the rank of 
a scholar; I see the man still young amid the roll of drums 
and the roar of battle, as he leads his men at Sandy Creek 
and Piketon; I see him as he rides across the field of fire at 
Chickamauga; I see him in the Halls of Congress winning 
his way to the leadership of the House; I see the streets in 
I^ew York crowded with maddened men: Lincoln was shot 
last night: thousands upon thousands are gathered in that 
great center of the Nation's commerce, furious witli rage and 
burning for revenge; I see Butler of Massachusetts with 
crape streaming from his arm, and hear his voice choked 
with tears — "Gentlemen, he died in the fullness of his 
power." A telegram is read: "Seward is dead." I hear a 
wild cry from that frenzied throng which means death and 
desolation to hundreds. I hear a voice — " Another telegram 
from Washington," and in the moment's hush which 
follows, these w^ords come with a clarion clearness: 

" Fellow-citizens: — Clouds and darkness are around 
about Him. His pavilion is dark waters and thick clouds 
of the sky. Justice and judgment are the hal)rtation 
of his throne. Mercy and truth shall go before his face. 
Fellow-citizens, God reigns, and the Government at Wash- 
in ir ton still lives!" 

And the frenzy and madness of the throng are quelled 
by that divinely-gifted man. O, what a prophet's voice 
seems that utterance, as we stand in the presence and 
the mystery of liis death. 

We loFe him for his tenderness to his mother, for his de- 



TRUE TO HIMSELF— FALSE TO NONE. 163 

votion to his wife, who was to him the one woman above all 
other women, for his companionship with his children. 
Aye! for these things he came into our hearts. 

Other men had been great leaders upon the battle-field 
and in legislative halls, but he, the great leader, was the 
filial son, the chivalrous husband, the kind father, the 
stanch friend. Who will forget that when the message 
was sent over the wires announcing his fall to that loved 
wife — it bore his words also to her: " He sends his love to 
you." 

Again I see him as I saw him but yesterday at that his- 
toric gathering in the metropolis of the Northwest. The 
great building is packed with thousands upon thousands of 
men, an eager and yet hckle throng. The eloquent and regal 
senator from New York has finished his masterly and stir- 
ring presentation of the name of General Grant. From 
floor to rafter the building rocks with cheers. The world 
seems gone mad for the nomination of the Hero of Appo- 
mattox. The New York delegation seizes its banner and 
heads the procession down the aisles of the hall ; delega- 
tion after delegation follow, waving flags and banners, until 
the floor of the convention is the parade ground of an 
army, while the majestic Conkling waves his hand to the 
admiring galleries as a signal for fresh tumults of cheers. 

In the midst of this gigantic uproar, Ohio is called, and 
a delegate springs upon a table in front of the reporters. 
He is a man of tine physique, with a large head which seems 
more than half forehead; a clear eye, deep blue to his 
friends, but a cold gray to his foes, and his voice rings like 
a trumpet! His first words still the vast audience into the^ 
silence of death, and as he goes on towards a fitting climax, 
T hear him tell that Convention that not in Chicago, in the 
heat of June, but at the firesides of the Republic, in the 
days of November the c^nte3t will be decided, and that it 



IM TRUE TO HIMSELF— FALSE TO NONE. 

is tlie calm level of the sea below the tumult and the storm, 
by which all heights and depths are measured. I felt that 
whatever the outcome of that contest, the great and wise 
man whose voice is sounding in my ears, is fitter than thej 
all to be the ruler of this great people. 

I see him as the flush comes into his face near the end 
of that memorable contest, when Wisconsin heads the break, 
and casts for him her seventeen votes — Thank God for Wis- 
consin, — and then Indiana wheels into line, and then State 
after State forgets its favorite, and hastens to his banner. I 
see him after he has taken the oath of office, and has spoken 
his inaugural tidings of conciliation and grand promise: 

"The oSIation is resolutely facincr to the front, resolved to 
employ its best energies in developing the great possibili- 
ties of the future. Sacredly preserving whatever has been 
gained to liberty and good government, during the century, 
our people are determined to leave behind them all those 
bitter contentions concerning things which have been irrevo- 
cably settled, and the further discussion of which can only stir 
up strife and delay the onward march," then, forgetful of 
the great concourse, turning reverently to kiss that grand 
mother and devoted wife, under the gaze of the American 
people. 

Who sneers at it now as sentimental? It was the man. 
Grander spectacle Xation never looked upon. 

I see him upon his bed during the long agonj- of his 
martyrdom, and no word of complaint or purpose of re- 
venge passes his calm lips. There he lies, the wonder and 
admiration of all nations, the hero of the world. I see him 
as he gasps, " O Swaim ! what a terrible pain ! Can't you 
do something for me?" And the pulse flutters and the 
breath grows faint. The light flickers and goes out, and 
the heroic woman strokes the nerveless arm of her dead. 
Aye! roll your surges, ocean, in ceaseless moaning for our 



TRUE TO HIMSELF— FALSE TO NONE. 165 

hero. Hide your faces, stars of heaven, and let the earth 
be shrouded in darkness. Sweep your sable pinions across 
the sky, O clouds, and let not the sun look upon our be- 
loved. And, men of every land, ring out the iron bells in 
peals of woe. Drape your houses and let your hearts be 
sad, for the friend of man is dead. Autumn shall wither 
the leaves, and winter shall hide the earth with snow as 
with a garment. Spring shall come again and wear her 
crown of verdure; and summer shall adorn the earth with 
flowers, and with the kindly fruit of the fields. Men shall 
sow the seed and reap the harvest; kingdoms shall fall and 
empires shall spring up, and all things ripen towards the 
end, but the gentle, courageous, humble, kingly man shall 
come back to us no more forever. 

And now they lay him at rest in that beautiful spot by 
the blue waters of the lake upon which he gazed in boy- 
hood. Cannon thunder a last tribute, and all that is mor- 
tal of James A. Garfield waits beneath the sod for the 
trumpet of the last day. 

His death has brought sorrow to mankind, rest to a hero, 
duty to a nation. The standards he set we must never 
lower. We must see to it that Guiteau writes no page of 
American history. It is left for us to cherish the hero's 
memory and hand it down to the generations which shall 
come after us, as a dear possession for aye, to explore his 
cliaracter and reproduce it in our children, that when the 
stranger shall ask, "Where is his monument?" we may re- 
ply, "The Nation is his memorial;" to reap the fruit of 
his labors, garnered in our institutions and in our laws, 
and to write above all, " in letters of living light," " God 
reigns, and the (government at Washington still lives." 



THE HOUSEHOLD STORY. 



By Chancey M. Depbw. 



Delivered at the Memorial Service of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
New York, Sept. 26, 1881. 

We have met together many times in the long years past 
on occasions, serious and trifling, sad and joyful ; for the 
hot discussions of politics, for the purpose of commemorat- 
ing historical and patriotic events, and to strew with flowers 
and eulogiums, the graves of our heroic dead ; but never 
before have we assembled when we were only the units of 
universal and all-embracing grief. The sun, in its course, 
has for the past two months greeted with its morning rays, 
a never-ending succession of kneeling millions, supplicating 
the heavenly throne to spare the life of General Garfield ; 
and, during the last forty-eight hours, it has set upon them, 
bowed in sorrow for his death. 

This intense interest has been limited by neither bounda- 
ries nor nationalities. It has belted the globe with mourn- 
iuo-. Why has this calamity touched the chords of univer- 
sal sympathy? Heroes and statesmen have died before, but 
never before have all civilized peoples felt the loss their 
own. The glory of the battle-field has mingled exultation 
with the soldier's agony. Statesmen have closed a long and 
distinguished career, but the loss has been relieved by the 
reflection that such is the common lot of all. Lincoln's 
murder was recognized as the expiring stroke of a dying 
cause The assassination of him who was the savior of 

(166) 



THE HOUSEHOLD STORY. 167 

Holland, and the hope of the liberty of his time, was felt 
to be the fruit of implacable feud and religious strife; but 
the shot at Gartield was the most causeless, purposeless and 
wicked crime of the century, No section, no party, no 
faction, desired his death. It had no accessories in public 
vengeance or private malice. 

The President was a strong, brave, pure man, in the prime 
of his power; the trusted Executive of fifty millions of 
people; the title to his office unquestioned; and the Nation 
unanimous in the purpose that he should develop his policy 
and fulfill his mission. Such a life and career, bo ruthless- 
ly broken, arouse horror and sympathy. 

But the love, reverence and sadness of this hour are due 
to the fact that the man himself, in his strength and weak- 
ness, in his struggles and triumphs, in his friendships and 
enmities, in his relations to mother, wife and children, and 
in his battle with death, was the best type of manhood. 
He was not one of those historical heroes, with the human 
element so far eliminated that, while we admire the char- 
acter, we rejoice that it exists only in book" and on canvas; 
but a man like ourselves, with like passions and feelings, 
but possessed of such greatness and goodness, that the 
higher we estimated him the nearer and dearer he became 
to us. In America and Europe he is recognized as an illus- 
trious example of the results of free institutions. His 
career shows what can be accomplished where all avenues 
are open, and exertion is untrammeled. 

Our annals afford no such incentive to youth as does his 
life; and it will become one of the Republic's household 
stories. No boy, in poverty almost hopeless, thirsting for 
knowledge, meetj an obstacle which Garfield did not expe- 
rience and overcome. No youth, despairing in darkness, 
feels a gloom wnich he did not dispel. 

No young man filled with honorable ambition ean en- 
counter a difficulty which he did not meet and surmount. 



168 THE HOUSEHOLD STORY. 

* 

For centuries to come great men will trace their rise from 
humble origins to the inspirations of that lad, who learned 
to read by the light of a pine-knot in a log cabin; who, 
raf"-ed and barefooted, trudged along the tow-path of the 
canal; and, without ancestry behind to impel him forward, 
without money or affluent relations, without friends or 
assistance, by faith in himself and in God, became the 
most scholarly and best-equipped statesman of his time — 
one of the foremost soldiers of his country, the best debater 
in the strouirest of deliberate bodies, the leader of his ]^;irty 
and the Chief Magisrate of fifty millions of people before 
he was fifty years of age. 

We are not here to question the ways of Providence. 
Our pniyers were not answered as we desired, though the 
volume and fervor of our importunity seemed resistless; 
but already, behind the partially-lifted veil, we see the fruits 
of the sacrifice. Old wounds are healed and fierce feuds 
foro-otten. Yengeance and passion, which have survived the 
best statesmansliip of twenty years, are dispelled by a com- 
mon sorrow. Love follows syiT)pathy. Over this open grave 
the cvpress and willow are indissolubly entwined, and into it 
are buried sectional differences and hatreds. The North and 
the South rise from bended knees to embrace in the brother- 
hood of a common people and reunited country. Not this 
alone, but the humanity of the civilized world has been 
quickened and elevated, and the Ejiglish-speaking people 
are nearer to-day in peace and unity than ever before. 

There is no language in which petitions have not arisen 
for Garfield's life, and no clime where tears have not fallen 
lor his death. The Queen of the proudest of nations, for 
the first time in our recollection, brushes aside the formal- 
ities of diplomacy, and descending from the throne, speaks 
for her own and the hearts of all her people, in the cable 
to the afflicted wife, which says: "Myself and my children 
mourn with jrou." 



A MAN OF THE PEOPLE. 



By Rev. T. K. Noble — Department Chaplain of the Grand Army of 

the Republic. 



Delivered in San Francisco, at the Memorial Service of the Grand Army of the 

Republic, Sept. 25, 1881. 

" Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen?"— II Samuel, 3:38. 

As I Stand in your presence to-night, my comrades, there 
rises before me a Dantean picture of the touching scene it 
was my lot to witness in the general hospital of the Army 
of the Potomac on that awful day when the news reached 
us that our beloved Lincoln had been foully murdered. 
Only seven days before, it had been the privilege of those 
thousands of maimed and sick soldiers to look into his 
rugged but kindly face and feel the hearty pressure of his 
honest hand, and when the tidings came that he had been 
ehot down like a dog, those bronzed and war- hardened vet- 
erans, raged like madmen, a,nd then cried like children. 
This picture, dark as it is, has been duplicated, and in a 
period of profound peace. Despite a nation's wrath and a 
nation's woe, in less than a score of years, we are again 
smitten by a common blow, and bowed by a common grief. 
A dutiful son, a devoted husband, a revered father, a ripe 
scholar, a pure patriot, a sagacious statesman and a godly 
ruler has succumbed at last, after seventy-nine days of 
patient suffering to the bullet of the assassin, and strong 
men again have been crviug in our streets. The Nation has 

(169) 



170 A MAN OF THE PEOPLE. 

lost its head, the people their President, and we of the 
Grand Army a comrade, honored and beloved. To use the 
words which Shakespeare puts in the mouth of Macbeth : 



■"this Duncan 



Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been 
So clear in his great office, that his virtues 
Will plead like angels, trumi^et-tongued, against 
The deep damnation of his taking off." 

HIS NOBLE LIFE. 

But we are in God's house to-night, not to give utterance 
to useless invective, or expression to unavailing sorrow. 
The hour can be better spent in meditating upon his noble 
life and its inspiring lessons. And so 1 reiterate this old 
question of Holy Writ, "Know ye not that there is a prince 
and a great man fallen ? " If we will rise to some just concep- 
tion of his greatness, we must weigh his record as a man, a 
patriot, a statesman and a Christian ruler. Look, first of all, 
at his greatness as a man, a man among men, and a man of 
the common people. Born in a rude log cabin, a true son 
of the soil, his father a farmer, his elder brother a farmer, 
and his two sisters the wives of farmers, his supei-b phys- 
ique inherited from robust ancestors, was magnificently 
developed by hard labor in the open air and at the work- 
bench of the carpenter's shop. 

Who that has ever looked upon him will ever forget his 
manly presence ? The tall, but well rounded frame, the 
broad shoulders, the massive head, the full face, the clear 
blue eye, the kindly look, the affable and friendly ways, all 
these "bespoke elements so mixed in him that nature might 
stand up and say to all the world, this was a man !" Not 
a man of lead, heavy, dull, cold and unelastic ; nor a man 
of iron, stern, hard, implacable and unattractive, but a man 
of steel, firm, but at the same time flexible, tenacious, but 
also tractile, and with all his powers and faculties so tem- 
pered and refined that whatever position in life he was 



A MAN OF THE PEOPLE. 17t 

mlled to fill, lie always rose equal to the demands of the hour. 
Whether as a toiler upon the farm of his father, or as a 
driver of horses upon the canal, or as a teacher in our public 
schools, or as President of a College, or as a preacher of the 
Gospel of Peace, or as a General on the field of war, or as a 
Representative in the halls of Congress, or as President of 
fifty millions of peop)le, by his ability, versatility and fidel- 
it}^ he has won imperishable honor as the fairest and finest 
representative of American manhood. 

The speaker then proceeded to review at length President 
Garfield's greatness as a patriot and a statesman — calling 
public attention to the larger service rendered by him while 
a member of Congress, and to the wisdom, firmness and 
high manliness displayed by him during his brief occupancy 
of the Presidential chair. 

THE president's RELIGION. 

He then said: I should be recreant to my duty as a 
Christian minister, did I not, on this memorial occasion, 
direct j^our thoughts to our dead comrade's beautiful loy- 
alty to God, as well as to bis large services to men. Never- 
let it be forgotten that this noble life, which bore such 
blessed fruit, was rooted in Christian soil. It was Chris- 
tian blood that flowed in his veins. It was a Christian 
mother that bore liim. It was a Christian wife that minis- 
tered to him. It was a Christian home that sheltered him,, 
and it was a Christian church of which he was a faithful 
and consistent member. His Bible was the Christian's 
Bible, and his God the Christian's God, and no day passed 
in which he did not, with bowed head, invoke the Divine 
blessing upon his home and upon the dear country of his 
life. 

Even in his youth, while camping out with a few chosen 
companions, before the fire dies down, he takes from his 
pocket a well-worn Bible, reads a chapter aloud, and then,. 



172 A MAN OF THE PEOPLE. 

kneeling under the solemn stars, reverently commends him- 
self and his young friends to the God of his fathers. It was 
this spirit of whole-souled loj'-alty to God that made onr 
dead President so grandly great — great in peace, great in 
war, great in the sick chamber, and great in the presence 
of death. For, as Carlyle has said, " The chief question to 
be asked of a man or of a nation is. What was their re- 
ligion ?" Answering this question, he adds, "Give us the 
soul of their history, for the thoughts they had were the 
parents of the actions they did, and their feelings were the 
parents of their thoughts, and it is the interior and spirit- 
ual that determines the outward and actual." 

I repeat it, my comrades, it was our dead President's 
stanch loyalty to God, that made him so truly great. This 
it was that imparted to his soul that lofty courage, that se- 
rene and beautiful equipoise of spirit, that is, the admira- 
tion of the world. " It will strike hard," he said to his col- 
lesre classmates, at the time of his inau«:uration. "It will 
strike hard, this mountain wave of political animosity," 
but he was anchored to his God, and in his soul there was 
peace. How hard it did strike, only the lips of his brave 
«,nd bereaved wife can fully tell, and the unwritten history 
of those awful weeks of suffering adequately disclose. But 
he bore it with such knightly fortitude, such Christian pa- 
tience, such unmurmuring submission to the will of the 
God he trusted, that it has touched the great heart of human- 
ity in every quarter of the habitable globe. And, therefore 
to-night, as he lies in the repose of death, his worn, white face 
turned upward to those calm heights where sin and sor- 
row and paia are never known, " where the wicked cease 
from troubling, and the weary are at rest," all Christen- 
dom is mourning him. High and low, rich and poor, 
learned and unlearned, are bowing in the brotherhood of a 
common bereavement. It is our sorrowful privilege, mj 



A MAN OF THE PEOPLE. 175. 



comrades, to honor him, not only as a man and a magis- 
trate, but as a brotlier beloved — a faithful member of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, 

And so, in the quiet of this holy Sabbath evening, we, 
I the shattered remnants of this great fraternity, have come 

togetlier to break the alabaster box of our honest affection 
over our dead comrade, and to anoint him for his burial. 
" He has fought a good fight, he has finished his course, he 
has kept the faith." He has entered into the joy of his 
Lord. In company with our revered Washington, and our 
martyred Lincoln, sacred triumvirate of noble souls, he will 
live forever in the hearts of the American people, as a man 
without guile, a patriot without selfishness, a statesman 
without corruption, and a President without fear. 

THE LESSONS OF HIS LIFE. 

And now, what are the lessons which ought to be drawn 
from our dead comrade's shining career? Among the many 
which press hard for recognition I name but three: First 
of all, are we not admonished afresh of the inherent excel- 
lence of the American ideas and institutions which made 
possible the character and career of James A. Garfield? In 
what other land upon the face of the earth do we behold an 
open highway, leading from the rude cabin of a pioneer 
farmer up to the Executive Mansion of a mighty nation? 
Where but in America do we see all the supreme prizes of 
life actually within the reach of the poorest and humblest? 
Where but in this dear land of our fathers do we find a free 
government, and a free church, and a free press, and free 
speech, and free schools? I know it is the fashion of the 
times to speak lightly of these prerogatives of the Ameri- 
can people, and I do not forget that they have been abused^ 
like other good things of earth. 

But men do not gather grapes of thorns, nor tigs of 



174 A MAN OF THE PEOPLE. 

thistles. And wlien I look upon the grand outcome of these 
ideas and institutions, as exhibited by our dead President, 
and also, I may add, by his predecessors in the high office, 
I discern new significance in tliese old ideas which our 
fathers died to establish, and their sons to maintain, and I 
find myself saying, in the strong language of Israel's King, 
"If I forget thee, oh, my country, let my right hand forget 
its cunning, and let my tongue cleave to the roof of my 
mouth." 

The second lesson of our comrade's noble life — what is 
it but this: the inexpressible importance to our dear country 
of Christian homes — homes where the husband loves the 
wife as Christ the Church, and the wife reverences the hus- 
band with the sweet reverence of love; homes where child- 
ren are taught to obey their parents " In the Lord, because 
it is right;" homes in which, as- the shadows of evening 
fall, the household are gathered together, the word of Life 
is read, and the priest, the husband and father prays. If 
it were possible for the spirit of our departed President to 
speak to us to-night, I believe his message would be that 
America's supreme need is Christian homes like that in 
which his own young life ripened into such symmetrical 
and beautiful completeness. ' 

And now, as we go forth into the world, let us take with 
us also the other inspiring lesson — the ever-increasing use- 
fulhess and the ever-widening influence of a genuinely 
unselfish and consecrated life. I open the "Word of God, in 
which I am certain to find the very heart of truth, and I 
there read that "the path of the just is as a shining light, 
which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." How 
impressively is this truth illustrated in the life of our Presi- 
dent ! Beginning as a feeble rnsh-light, in a cabin in tlie 
West, it grew brighter and brighter as the years went by, 
illuminating successively the common school, the college, 



A MAN OF THE PEOPLE. 175 

the field of battle, the halls of Congress, and the capitol of 
the Nation, sending its clear and steady beams over the 
whole land, and so lettins: this light shine, that men every- 
where seeing the good works are glorifying their Father in 
heaven. And now, that the thin shade of the earthly tab- 
ernacle is at last dissolved, is not the pure spirit shining 
with a brightness and beauty and chastened radiance that 
belono-s not to earth but to heaven? Faithful over a few 
things, he is made ruler over many things, and his blessed 
life is filling the whole world with fragrance. Oh, comrades 
and friends, is not the voice of our fallen leader speaking 
to us in this still hour, and saying to us calmly and 
solemnly, " Follow me ever as I have followed my great 
Master, Christ I " 



A LIFE THAT SHINES. 



By Rev. James Freeman Clarke, D.D. 



Delivered in the Church of the Disciples, Boston, Memorial Sunday, Sept. 25, 188L 

" But the path of the just is as the shining Ught. that shineth more and more unto 
the perfect day."— Proverb 4: 18. 

The lonoj trial is over; the great suspense is at an end^ 
and our whole-souled and loved Chief has gone from us. 
The civilized world which has watched every fluctuation of 
the sick man's pulse, counted every throh, and asked anx- 
iously every day for his welfare, turns sadly back to its 
usual avocations. Another name is written among the 
noble armj' of martyrs; another hero has been enrolled on 
the list of those whom this people reverences. Henceforth 
the memory of Garfield will stand side by side with those 
of Washington and Lincoln as one of the heroes of the 
Nation. All minds and hearts throughout the world are 
moved simultaneously by one sorrow and one sympathy 
The mourning widow has condolence and sympathy from 
all the nations of the world, and has stood by his side faith- 
fully. If her husband had remained a simple teacher in an 
Ohio academy she would have done no less; she could have 
done no more. 

There is something wonderful and almost inexplicable in 
this expression of world-wide sorrow. In imagination we 
see the funeral. There is the casket surrounded by the 

(176) 



n 



A LIFE THAT SHINES. 177 

pall-beai'ers, who are all his old boyhood I'rieuds. Mrs. 
Garfield passed over the distinguished gentlemen who 
would gladly have occupied these positions, and wisely 
chose those who knew him earliest. After them follow the 
wife, the mother and children, the faithful friends, the 
members of the Cabinet and the Governors of States; 
then there are present by their expressions of sincere sor- 
row, the Queen of England, and the Empress of India, the 
President of the great French Republic, the Kings of Italy 
and Belgium, the Parliament of Australia; crowded pub- 
lic meetings in every city and town in England send also 
their representatives. All these we see in our minds fol- 
lowing lovingly and reverently the body of this man, who 
had no prestige except that which he won by his own 
worth. The world is better for such a scene as this; it is 
noble to see that in such an hour 

"One throb of nature makes the whole world kin." 

We see that the world is not so bad as it is represented 
to be, when such a wave of feeling sweeps over it, bearing 
all classes of men to one common point of meeting. Why 
is it? The assassination of the Czar, the ruler of a mighty 
empire, created no such feeling. The long weeks of sick- 
ness, of watching with untiring interest, may have some- 
thing to do with it, but not all. He was a patient sufferer, 
but so were others. The assassination of Lincoln excited 
the passion of grief, but this universal sorrowing has a pro- 
founder source. It has been argued that the people of 
this Nation can have no feeling of loyalty toward a govern- 
ment represented by a man chosen from among themselves 
and placed at their head by their own votes. It is not the 
man to whom they are loyal, but his position. The place 
where he stands is their ideal position, and the divinity 
which hedges it round is not his personal character, but the 
divinity of the position which he fills. Whatever is good, 
12 



178 A LIFE THAT SHINES. 

grand and beautiful in the institutions of our country is 
represented by liim, and if he leads a good and pure life, 
devoted to the interests of the countiy, then he is beloved 
and reverenced with a love greater than that of any other 
country. • Such was he — our martyred chief. Other na- 
tions are moved by the sight of this upright man, who 
stands as the embodiment of the great hopes and future of 
this mighty republic. Whether or not this be the explana- 
tion, it is certain that this is a remarkable hour in the his- 
tory of the Nation, and he has done more for us by his 
death than he would by living. 

His death has extinguished the feeling between the 
North and South and made them one; it has stilled all 
animosity against him. We are rejoiced to see that tlie 
Kepublican and Democratic papers which opposed the pol- 
icy and found fault with the administration of Garfield 
are acknowledging their mistakes openly; it is a mark of 
strength and not of weakness. If his death shall elevate 
the tone of political discussion, it will not have been in 
vain. It has helped to make mankind one. Every noble 
life which thrills the world witli a common feeling tends 
to unite it, and goes far in the same direction with the 
atonement of Christ. The blood of Lincoln brought men, 
before estranged, nearer to each other; the blood of Gar- 
field has united the North and South and brought the 
great spheres nearer together. 

But we must carry this sentiment forward toward con- 
viction. The principle for which Garfield died was that of 
truth. These funeral processions, mourning emblems and 
eulogies are all right and proper as far as they go, but we 
must not stop there in our tribute. The best monument 
which we can raise to his memory is to carry on tlie ideas 
.and principles to which he was a martyr. It may be urged 
that the assassin was crazy, but his brain was filled with the 



A LIFE THAT SHINES. 179 

notions of the spoils system, and it was in opposing that 
system that Gartield died. And now a man who has been 
known in the past as a supporter of tliat system has taken, 
his place. We must not prejudge him. "We can only 
hope that he has experienced a change of lieart; but what- 
ever he does, the people must not relax their vigilance; 
they must kill the spoils system. Hang the assassin if 
they will, but do n't stop there. A system well organized 
and well carried out for the reform of the civil service will 
be the best monument which can be erected to the memory 
of Garfield. 

It is not a bad thing to die when death produces such re- 
sults as these. Garfield was happy in his life, in his home, iii 
his mother, in his wife, his church, his love for knowledge, 
his wise instructors; lie was happy, too, in having the cour- 
age to leave these blessings to tight for his country; he was 
happy in his good sense, his sweet temper, his sound prin- 
ciples; but he was especially happy in the opportunity for 
death, when he had gained all and lost nothing. His life 
was bright and without a spot; his death was opportune 
and fortunate, since he has united the world in one great 
sentiment of pity and reverence. When such a man dies, 
it is not death, but a new life. 



THE IMMORTAL NAME. 



By Judge John P. Rea. 



Delivered at the Memorial Services in Minneapolis. Minn., Sept. 26, 1881. 

Just one week ago, way down by the sea, the wild waves 
of the mighty deep moaning their sad requiem in his ears, 
the grandest soul among men took its flight from earth to 
heaven. 

This afternoon the body which that soul animated, enno- 
bled and endeared for half a centurj'-, was laid to rest on 
the sloping shores that were his home by the lake he loved. 
Its restless murmuring waters are singing now as they 
will continue in calm or storm to sing forever, nature's 
anthem to his memory. In that little mound looking out 
upon that inland sea, he sleeps. There angel sentinels be- 
gin to-night their ageless watch above hira. There by his 
faith, which is ours, we know that he will come forth in 
glory when the reveille of eternity sounds the dawn of im- 
mortality's morning. 

I came not here to tell what James A. Garfield did, 
the world knows that by heart. I came not here to mag- 
nify his merits, or attempt by feeble words to burnish the 
dazzling lustre of his memory, but simply to lay a humble 
tribute from the heart upon his fresh made grave, and min- 
gle a tear with those who weep that he is gone. 

(180) - 



THE IMMORTAL NAME. 181 

How feeble are words to express the emotions of the 
heart when stirred to the depth by the aggressive force of 
an overwhelming sorrow! 

What pen cap portray the anguish of a soul smitten by 
the hand of death? What language can convey from mind 
to mind, in all its acuteness, tlie grief that revels at this 
hour in the bosom of every American? 

What heart here but feels upon its plastic walls the 
ruthless print of an iron hand? What ear but hears in the 
oppressive air about it the rustling of the black wings? 
What soul but feels the chilling presence of the inexorable 
angel of death? Cpon what a scene in the world's drama 
the curtain falls to-day ! Across the land draped in pall 
moves the funeral cortege of America's murdered President. 
In its trains are fifty million broken-hearted mourners. 
Chivalric soldiers who crossed with him in the fiercest con 
flict of the centuries are there. Proud men whom he met 
and conquered in the bitter contests of the political arena 
are there. Humble black men whom he helped to lift from 
bondage to manhood are there. The rich and the poor, the 
old and the young, the high and the low, the great and the 
hnmble, all are there, and all — all are weeping. All are 
moved by a common love and stricken by a common sor- 
row. Children strew flowers beneath the wheels of the car 
that bears the dead. The nations stand with bowed heads 
in silent sadness while the mighty procession passes, bear- 
ini; to its tomb the lifeless form of him in whom was cen- 
tered the tenderestloveof the republic and the fondest hope 
of the world. The proudest Queen of Christendom wipes 
the tear from her cheek as she lays her floral tribute upon 
his bier, and millions of peasants in humble cots on moun- 
tain and lowland beyond the sea feel the gloom of an equal 
sadness and the touch of as tender a love. Eyes unused to 



182 THE IMMORTAL NAME. 

weep are moistened. AH humanity is in tears — through 
them its great, warm heart is breaking. 

" Aye, turn and weep : 'tis manliness 
To be heart-broken here, 
For the grave of earth's best nobleness 
Is watered by the te'ar." 

We mourn not so much the loss of the ruler, as the death 
of the man. Looking through our tears upon his matchless 
career, the lustre of his triumphs as he carves his way from 
the cabin to the White Plouse, dims by contrast with the 
golden glory that floods for months the chamber of patient 
suffering, of unselfish devotion, of conquered agony, where 
were revealed the immeasurable possibility of man's virtue 
and the unfathomable depths of woman's love. Oh ! with 
what a delicate tenderness humanity will treasure away in 
the store-house of its memory the sacred incidents of loving 
self-denial and sublime fortitude that sparkle forth like 
heavenly gems through the black clouds of misery which 
envelop that scene. James A. Garfield won his way by 
no art but the true one of meriting honors. He commanded 
power by demonstrating his fitness for it. In its exercise 
he honors his country and his kind. 

" And to add greater honors to his age • 

Than man could give, he died fearing God." 

Barefooted orphan bo}^ delving in intellectual mines for 
the treasures of power; young teacher of the living truths" 
that flash down the centuries from the martyr- crowned 
crest of Calvary; heroic soldier of freedom, snatching the 
inspiration of victory from the gloom of defeat, riding, 
king of the battle-storm, amid the death-revel that reigned 
supreme in the tangled fens of the Chickamauga; bold, 
honest, intelligent legislator, at the peril of popular dis- 
pleasure, yielding obedience to the slightest commands of 
honor, teaching thy countrymen that " Aloft on the throne 



THE IMMORTAL NAME. 183 

of God, and not below in the footprints of a trampling 
multitude, are the sacred rules of right, which no majori- 
ties can displace or overturn." 

Chosen Chief Magistrate of the first republic of the world, 
standing on the sunlit portals of its capitol, in the full flush 
of new-born power, bending to imprint the kiss of filial love 
on the shrunken, shriveled cheek of the old mother — show- 
inf that true love has no season and no station; champion 
of libert}^ and law; lover of country and man; exemplar of 
virtue; teacher above all others of the limitless possibilities 
of rectitude and courage; incomparable President, faithful 
husband, tender father, loving son: Thy name shall be a 
household word to millions whose existence lies in the 
dreamy realms of the unborn centuries. "We mourn thy 
tragic end ! We behold with pride, the rising superstruc- 
ture of the mighty fabric of thy fame. We cannot tell 
" thy doom without a sigh," and yet we know that 

"Thou art Freedom's now and Fame's, 
One of the few immortal names 
That were not born to die." 



THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD. 



By Senatok Voorhees. 



Delivered in the Opera House, Terre Haute, Indiana, Sept. 21, 1881. 

Mk. Mayok and Fellow-citizens: — 1 cannot remain 
silent on such an occasion as this. 

All that is mortal of him, wiio a few hours ago wa? the 
living head of the most powerful government on the globe, 
now lies cold and still in cleith. The sounds and em- 
blems of mourning are encircling the earth to-day. 
Throughout the boundaries ot the Republic, the bells are 
tolling for the illustrious dead, and following the track of 
the sun, wherever the dread intelligence finds the Ameri- 
can flag, whether <»n the stately squadron, or coasting 
schooner ; whether over the proud embassy, or the hum- 
ble consulate, tliere it will droop at half-mast, and its bril- 
liant folds will be shadowed in crape. And with Ameri- 
can sorrow will be mingled the sorrow of the whole civi- 
lized world. Every nation will be a mourner at this sad- 
dest of all funerals in American history. 

The President of the United States died in public, with 
the world looking on from hour to hour, counting his pulse- 
beats and his breathings, and in all the long tragedy he 
faced death so well, bore himself so manfully, without mur- 
mur of complaint, or word of vengeance, that civilized na- 

(184) 



THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD. 185^ 

tioiis of every clime and kindred will stand uncovered as 
his funeral train carries him back to his beloved Western 
home. 

Sir, I knew James A. Garfield well, and except on the 
political field, we had strong sympathies together. It is 
nearly eighteen years since we first met, and during that 
period I had the honor to serve seven years in the House 
of Representatives with him. I have been asked, in this 
hour of universal grief, to place some estimate upon his 
character. The kindness of his nature, and his mental ac- 
tivity, were his leading traits. In all his intercourse with 
men, women and children, no kinder heart ever beat in hu- 
man breast than that which struggled on until half-past ten 
o'clock Mondav nisfht. and then forever stood still. There 
was a light in his face, a chord in his voice, and a pressure 
in his hand, which were full of love for his fellow beings. 
His manners were ardent and demonstrative with those to 
whom he was attached, and he filled the private circle with 
sunlight and with magnetic currents. He had the joyous 
spirits of boyhood, and the robust intellectuality of man- 
hood, more perfectly combined than any one I ever knew. 

Such a character was necessarily almost irresistible with 
those who knew hira personally, and it accounts for that 
undying hold, which, under all circumstances bound his 
immediate constituents to him, as with hooks of steel. 
Such a nature, however, always has its dangers as well as 
its strenffth, and its blessinacs. The kind heart and the 
open hand never accompany a suspicious, distrustful mind. 
Desiirnino' men mark such a character for their own selfish 
uses, and General Garfield's faults, for he had faults, as he 
was human, sprang more from this circumstance, than 
from all others combined. He was prompt, and eager to 
respond to the wishes of those he esteemed his friends, 
whether inside or outside his own political party. 



186 THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD. 

That he made some mistakes in his long and busy career 
is but repeating the history of every generous and oblig- 
ing man who has lived and died in public life. They are 
not such, however, as are recorded in heaven, nor will they 
mar or weaken the love of his countrymen. The poor, 
laboring boy, the self-made man, the hopeful, buoyant 
soul in the face of all difficulties and odds, constitute an 
example for the American youth whicli will never be lost 
nor grow dim. 

The estimate to be placed on the intellectual abilities of 
General Garfield, must be a very high one. Nature was 
bountiful to him, and his improvements were extensive and 
solid. He was an industrious, judicious student, and his 
rapidity of thought and activity of mind were at times 
amazing. He grasped a subject as quickly as any man who 
ever took part in the public affairs of the world. He had 
that fine mental courage which shrinks from no investiga- 
tion. His acquirements were consequently rich and vari- 
ous. If I might make a comparison, 1 would say that 
with the exception of J efierson and John Quincy Adams, 
he was the most learned President, in what is written in 
books, in the whole range of American history. This, in 
mv judgment, will be the rank assigned him in the histo- 
ries of the future. 

The Christian character of General Garfield cannot, with 
propriety, be omitted in a glance, however brief, at his re- 
markable career. Those who knew him best in the midst 
of his ambition and his worldly hopes, will not fail now 
at his tomb to bear their testimony to his faith in God, 
and his love for the teachings of the blessed Nazarene. 
Though upon the summit of human greatness, he avowed 
his Master's cause and accepted the kingdom of Heaven in 
the spirit of a child. His chamber of death adds one 
more conspicuous illustration of the serenity and peace 



THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD. 187 

with which a Cliristian meets liis fate. As the earth with 
all its honors, its loves and its hopes receded and disap- 
peared, he was comforted by sights and sounds which this 
world can neither give nor take away. 

It seems but yesterday that I saw him last, and parted 
from him, in all the glory of his physical, and mental man- 
hood. His eye was full of light, his tread elastic and strong, 
and the world lay bright before him. He talked freely of pub- 
lic men and public affiiirs. His resentments were like sparks 
from the flint. He cherished them not for a moment. Speak- 
ino-of one whom he thought had wronged him, he said to me,, 
that sooner or later he intended to pour coals of fire on his 
head by acts of kindness to some of his kindred. He did 
not live to do so, but the purpose of his heart has been 
placed to his credit in the book of eternal life. 

Sir, as to the public measures, and the recent vivid oc- 
currences connected with his brief administration, I am 
not here now to speak. At other times, and in another 
forum, that task may perhaps be required, but not on this 
occasion of grief and commemoration. 

General Garfield's career at the head of the Government 
was sad, stormy and tragic. He drank a bitter cup to its 
dregs. He realized, within his own party, in fullest meas- 
ure, the harsh reward of an honorable and successful ambi- 
tion. 

"He who ascends to mountain-tops shall find 

The loftiest peaks most wrapped in clouds and snow; 
He who surpasses or subdues mankind 

Must look down on the hate of those below. 
Though high above the sun of glory glow. 

And far bmeath the earth and ocean spread, 
Bound him are icy rocks, and loudly blow 

Contending tempests on his naked head, 
. And thus reward the toils which to those summits led.' 

But at last- he has found rest and peace, the rest and 
peace of eternity to a Christian soul. As President, loving- 
husband and father, affectionate son, and faithful friend^ 



Ib8 THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD. 

he will walk this earth no more. Alas! how pathetic was 
his death. At the high noon time of life, not quite fifty 
years of age, with a career already made, which wonld read 
like romance in any other country than this, and with a 
mission just before him in which he believed, and for 
wliich he longed to live, he fell by the hand of a wretch 
who had voted for him, and wanted some poor office in re- 
turn. And then the long struggle with slowly approach- 
ing, but certain death! Whose eye has not wept, as the 
brave man was seen during the last eighty dreadful days, 
fighting his last great battle, and fighting it in vain? Like 
the strong swimmer in the surf of the sea, striving for the 
shore, he sometimes seemed to be nearing a point of safetj', 
but with each ebbing wave he was carried further out, un- 
til at last he was gone forever from our anxious gaze on 
that tide which breaks alone on the high shores of immor- 
tality. 

How ffladlv would a million of lives have been ventured 
for his rescue ; but it could not be, and we bow our heads 
and our hearts in helpless submission. May God in his 
loving mercy have the bereaved wife and the orphaned 
children in His holy keeping. 

I have no heart now to speak of the future administra- 
tion of the government. I have faith in the American 
people, and all will be well. They are a source of power 
and of safety within themselves, and they can be trusted 
that no liarrn shall happen to the Republic. He who takes 
the place, under the Constitution, of the dead President, 
has my profound sympathy, and he will have my earnest 
support in all his efi:brts, to promote the welfare and glory 
of our common and beloved country. 



AN UNPARAi.LELED SPECTACI E. 



By Rev. G. H. Wells. 



Delivered at the Memorial Services in Montreal, Canada, Sept. 26, 1881. In the pul- 
pit were Revs. Gavin Lang, Dr. Sullivan, Dr. Clarke, H. Johnston, Dr ^tevenson, 
J. S. Black and W. S. Barnes, On the platform in front of the pulpit were the 
Lord Bish p of Montreal, Revs. Dr. McVicar, Canon Baldwin, Dr. Ussher, Prof. 
Shaw, J. L. Forster, W. W. Jubb, A. B. Mackay, Prof. Conssirat, E. A. Stafford, — 
Mallory, J. Nichols, and others. 

My Friends: — We share a universal grief to-day. The 
American Nation bears its fallen President to his last rest- 
ing-place, and the whole race of man forgets its differences 
and becomes a brotherhood beside his wrave. The world 
has never seen a spectacle like this. The lines of country 
and of race seem blotted out. 

It naturally reminds us of that former gloomy hour 
when, sixteen years ago, Lincoln fell by the assassin's hand. 
But there was difference of feeling then, both in his own 
and other lands. There is no division in opinion or emo- 
tion now. The world is one in condemnation of the deed 
and sorrow for his death. There have been many reasons 
for this fact. 

The growing intercourse and unity of men never so 
deeply felt before; the sympathy awakened by the Presi- 
dent's long suffering and his heroic fight for life, the perfect 
causelessness and madness of the crime have been large 
features in this grand result. But, quite beyond these 

(189) 



190 AN UNPARALLELED SPECTACLE. 

things, there has been, too, a feeling which deepened as the 
weeks went by, and fuller light was thrown upon the case, 
until it ripened to conviction at the last, that the patient 
Buflerer was a remarkable man, one of earth's truly noble 
and worthy sons — a man, who, quite aside from his exalted 
place and his tragic fate, deserved the high esteem of men, 
and whose death would be a general and lieavy loss, A 
distinct, and important element in the great grief, is a 
tribute paid to his distinguished character and marvelous 
career. Men feel that there is a prince and a great man 
fallen this day in Israel, and ^liey monrn for him as for a 
master and beloved chief. And this belief is amply justified 
by all the facts. 

For some weeks past the world has been watching, and 
while they wondered at his gentleness and courage, they 
have searched his record in the past, and tlie more they 
have become acquainted with him the more have they ad- 
mired and approved. No life could be more closely scanned 
than his has been with the keen vision of partisan political 
feeling, as well as with the gentler eye of pity, and no life 
ever bore the ordeal better, or came forth with purer fame. 
A calm review and candid estimate would rank him high 
among the great, good men. Think for a moment of his 
course, from tlie birth in a little clearing among the forests 
on the wild frontier — the humble home, so poor it some- 
times lacked for necessary bread. His boyhood's hard and 
scantily rewarded toil, his small advantages of schools, and 
all the obstacles and hardships that hedged about his youth. 
Kemember that he was a farm laborer, a wood chopper, a 
salt worker and a canal driver, in those days. And that, 
when yearning after something better for botli heart and 
mind, he began a religious life, and entered on a course of 
study, he was compelled to struggle long and hard with 
poverty before he could attain the end. 



AN UNPARALLELED SPECTACLE. 191 

His generous brother, and his almost more than human 
mother, gave liim $17 for his first term in tlie Academy, and 
he made it suffice by sleeping on the floor and cooking his 
own food. In the vacation he earned $25 by cutting 100 
cords of wood, to meet his next term's needs, and felt pas- 
sins- rich because he could afford to board. lu the Colle- 
giate Institute he did the work of janitor, and afterwards 
of tutor, as well as that of pupil, and gained a local fame 
as preacher and a speaker at political gatherings besides. 

After gradjLiating at an Eastern college among the high- 
est in his class, he returned liorae to be a professor and soon 
President in the institution where he had been janitor six 
years before, and by his excellence in teaching lifted it at 
once to favor, and proved that he would become a great 
educator — the Arnold or the Taylor of the West, if he con- 
tinued in the work. His admiring neighbors soon called 
him to public service, and he begin his long political career 
in the Ohio Senate, of which he was the youngest member, 
as still later he was the youngest general in the army, and 
still later the youngest member of the National Congress. 

He " let no man despise his youth," but was at once 
acknowledged in all these places as standing in the foremost 
rank. In the war he was an able and successful general, he 
was repeatedly promoted for gallantry, and eminent services, 
and might have risen to still higher place and won the 
name of a great commander had not his friends elected him 
to Congress, ^nd President Lincoln urged that he could 
serve his country better in Washington than at the front. 
As member, first of the Committee of Military Affairs, 
where his experience in the army gave his counsels special 
wortli, and, after the war, on the Committee of Ways and 
Means, which deals with the whole matter of revenue, and 
once more as Chairman of the Committee of Appropria- 
tions, which recommends and supervises the ex])enditures 



s 



192 AN UNPARALLELED SPECTACLE. 

of Government, at a time when the annual outlay reached 
the sum of $300,000,000, lie served his country in puttin 
down rebellion and in defending the national honor and 
good name. 

Last year, at the Chicago Convention, he led the delega- 
tion from his State, and urged the nomination of Secretary 
Sherman in a noble speech, and he continued loyal to his 
friend until all further strife was vain and he saw the 
choice of the convention was about to fall upon himself. 
Tlirousrh the excited canvass that ensued he bore himself 
with dignity and delicacy that were as beautiful as they 
were rare. He never trumpeted his cause nor advocated 
his own claims, but retained his friendship with many in 
the opposing party, and kept the picture of the rival candi- 
didate hanging in his home throughout the whole cam- 
paign. 

As President, he took the seat that had been made illus- 
trions by AVashington and Lincoln, and many other noble 
men, and has so filled it during these few months as to in- 
vest it with new honors, and to make it still more famous 
in the time to come. But who can worthily describe his 
conduct through these weeks of weary agony, while trem- 
bling in the balance between hope and fear, and watching 
at the very gates of death? His heroism here has beauti- 
fully closed, and crowned his whole career. He has shown 
how a man may stand sustained in every sphere of public 
life; he has shown now how a man may diewithont a fear. 
My friends, the person who has done this and yet has died 
before the age of fifty years, is surely of no common clay 
or mould. He had been tested on every side and every- 
where found strong and true. Weighed in many balances, 
he was not found wanting. 

Still more besides his active labors he found time for 
quiet study and research. He was a wide reader, a pro- 



AN UNPARALLELED SPECTACLE. 193 

found thinker, an accomplished scholar. lie lov^ed best to 
grapple with the great questions that belong to the national 
welfare, and aifect the universal good. He had mastered 
history of both ancient and modern times. He was deeply 
versed in literature, both classical and recent. He kept 
pace with the discoveries of the present, and was an inti- 
mate friend of such scientists as Agassiz and Henry. He 
was a largely gifted, a richly stored, a ripely cultured man, 
who would have honored any age, and graced the choicest 
fellowship of mind. 

And if we inquire for the finer moral qualities of heart, 
we shall find him still more rich in these. He was a sing- 
ularly just, upright, affectionate and simple-minded man. 
He never asked an office or promotion in his life. Not that 
he lacked ambition, for he had as much of it as any great 
man should. He hoped that he might sometime be pre- 
pared to serve his countr}^ in high places — but others' esti- 
mate of him invariablj' outran his own, and before he was 
)-eady for it, honor came. When it was proposed to send 
him to the State Senate, he said: "If you elect me I will 
serve, but it must be entirely without my assistance." He 
was nominated and chosen to Congress while absent in the 
army and without being consulted in the matter. When, 
after many years of service as a representative, he might 
have been elected to the Senate, remained at the request of 
President Hayes to be administration leader in the lower 
house. When he saw he was to be nominated at Chicago 
he said: "I feel as if my death-warrant had been signed ; 
I had thought I would like some time to be President, but 
I have just been chosen to the Senate, and might hope for 
many happy, useful years of labor there, but as ex-Presi- 
dent I shall be shut out from public life." 

In his case, the man never sought the office, but that 
ideal of patriotic philosophy was found, in which the office 

13 



194 AN UNPARALLELED SPECTACLE. 

always sought the man. He sat in Congress for his na- 
tive district, the 19th of Ohio. It is a reii:ion in tlie north- 
eastern corner of the State, called the Western Reserve, or 
sometimes New Connecticut. It was settled largely bj 
New England settlers, and has always been distinguished 
ibr hi"h intelliaence and moral worth. Joshua R. Gid- 
dino-s, one of the heroes of the anti-slavery conflict, had 
been its representative for twenty-live years. Here Presi- 
dent Garfield had been born, and always had his home, 
most loved and trusted by his neighbors who knew him 
best, and here he will to-daj^ be buried in tlie beautiful ceme- 
tery that overlooks the heaving lake. This district and its 
representative in Congress were mutualiy fond and proud of 
one another, but differences sometimes arose. 

Some years after the close of the war the greenback her- 
esy had risen, times were liard, and taxes heavy, and some 
even auiorig the honest people of Ohio inuigined that some 
easier method might be found. Garfield returned from 
Europe to find these opinions prevalent, and when he was 
to speak at a reception tendered him, some of his friends 
nrti-ed him to say nothing on the subject, lest he might in- 
jure his chances in the nominating convention that was soon 
to meet. There was no special need for him to speak, but 
he would not keep silent, when silence might be miscon- 
strued, and he attacked the vital point at stake. He said: 
" My friends, much as I value your opinions, I here de- 
nounce this theory that has worked into this State, as dis- 
honest, unwise and unpatriotic; and, if 1 were offered a nom- 
ination and election for my natural life from this district, on 
this platform, I should spurn it. If you should ever raise 
the question of re-nominating me, let it be understood that 
you can have my services only on the ground of the honest 
payment of this debt and of these bonds in coin, according 
to the letter and spirit of the contract." 



^.V UNPARALLELED SPECTACLE. 195 

Fortunately for tliemselves the people could appreciate 
his couraoje, and when the convention met he was re-nomi- 
nated by acclamation. In one political address he said: 
" I wish to adopt doctrines that will endure. I should like 
to hold a belief that will live longer than I shall live, and 
that my children after me might believe as true, and say, 
'this doctrine is true now, and it w^as true lift}'- years ago, 
when my father adopted it.' " But after all, it was in pri- 
vate and domestic life that he was best. ISTot many men 
seem greatest to those most intimately acquainted with 
them, but one who knew the President well, has told me 
that he never seemed to him so truly great as when sitting 
by his own fireside and holding converse with his nearest 
friends. His ])ower of friendship was remarkable. 

His regard for President Hopkins of Williams' College, 
where he studied, a great man and a great inspirer of youth, 
was beautiful in the extreme. Once the subject of the im- 
portance of enlarging the library and. the collections was 
discussed; when asked for his opinion, he said: "Gentlemen, 
books and cabinets are very good, but put me in a log cabin 
with only one rude bench, and seat Mark Hopkins on one 
end of it and let me sit upon the other, and that will be a 
college good enough for me." , 

It is worth while to note the reasons that; decided hini to 
go East for an education, and to Williams rather than to 
some other college. It was naturally expected that if he 
wished for anything beyond the local schools, he would go 
to Bethany College, an institution connected with the 
church of which he was a member, and which had for its 
presiding officer Alexander Campbell, the founder and 
leader of that sect. He thus exphiins his change of destin- 
ation in a letter to a friend : "There are three reasons why 
I have decided not to go to Bethany : 



I 



196 AN UNPARALLELED SPECTACLE. 

" 1st. The course of study is not so extensive or thorough 
as in Eastern colleges; 

"2nd. Bethany leans too heavily toward slavery; 

" 3rd. I am the son of Disciple parents; am one myself and 
have had but little acquaintance with people of other views, 
and having always lived in the West, I think it will make 
me more liberal, both in ray religious and my general views, 
to go into a new circle, where I shall be under new influen- 
ces." He then proceeds to say that he has written to the 
Presidents of three Eastern institutions, and has received 
similar replies, brief business notes from all, but adds, 
" President Hopkins concludes his letter with this sentence: 
'If you come here, we shall be glad to do what we can for 
you.' Other things being so nearly equal, this sentence, 
which seems like a friendly grasp of the hand, has settled 
the question for me. I shall start for Williams next week." 

Jjleally this young man has got a very definite and just 
conception of his needs. He seeks for culture, liberality 
and freedom. He will nut go where people lean toward 
slavery. To this thought he was consistent all his life. 

One day, while he commanded a division in the Army of 
the Cumberland, a fugitive slave took refuge in the camp. 
It was early in the war, when some supposed that a chief 
duty of the Union forces was to capture and restore the 
slaves that ran away. So the commanding officer wrote an 
order to General Garfield, requiring him to find the fugitive 
and hand him over to his owner. He took the order and 
deliberately wrote upon the back these words: — " I respect- 
fully but positively decline to allow my command to search 
for or deliver up any fugitive slaves; I consider that they 
are here for quite another purpose," and gave it to the 
orderly to carry back. A friend who saw the message 
expected him to be court-martialed on the spot, and begged 
him not to send it. He simply answered, " Kight is right, 



V 



AN UNPARALLELED SPECTACLE. 197 

and I will not mince matters. My people on the "Western 
Reserve did not send my boys and myself down here to do 
that kind of work, and tlie}^ will sustain me in my course." 
The refusal went to headquarters, but no reprimand was 
given, and nothing more was said about the case. 

That yearning, too, for sympathy that made a kindly word 
appear the welcome of a friendly hand. He never lost that 
feeling, nor did he forget to sympathize in turn with other 
young men in circumstances like his own. Some of his 
choicest memories were of his success in encouraging and 
brinofino- forward some who were distrustful of themselves, 
and of winning some parents to consent to the education of 
their sons. One such unwilling parent of an economical 
disposition,he persuaded by assuring him that in a little time 
his boy could teach and so earn money for himself An- 
other, of religious principles, he gained by preaching in his 
hearing a sermon on tlie Parable of the Talents, urging that 
parents were responsible for the development and culture 
of their sons. To a young man who was almost discour- 
aged and ready to give up the struggle for a college course^ 
and who had asked him for advice, he wrote: "Brother, 
mind it is not a question to be discussed in the spirit of de- 
bate, but to be thought over, and prayed over, as a question 
out of which are the issues of life. " And then proceeded 
to comfort and inspire in words that must have sprung out 
of his own experience. The rule of thought and prayer 
which he here prescribes to others, he followed rigidly 
himself 

On any matter that arose for settlement he sought the 
guidance of God's word and spirit. He was never ashamed 
of his religion, nor sought to put it out of sight. 

One night a party of Williams College students were 
camping out upon a neighboring mountain to see the sun- 
rise from the top. They sat beside a camp fire and spent 



193 AN UNFARALLELED SPECTACLE. 

the evening merrily in jest and song, until the hour for re- 
tiring caine, when one of them drew a Bible from his pocket 
and said to his companions: "It is my habit to read a chap- 
ter and to pray before I go to bed. Will you not join me 
in this exercise to-night?" And so he read the sacred 
word and prayed with them upon the mountain top, and 
one who was a member of the group, and who described 
the scene, has lately said, " I never lost the influence of 
that hour." That student was James A. Garfield. He 
afterward coniided to a friend that by a special arrangement 
with his mother they both read the same passage and prayed 
for one another every night. 

But who may venture to describe the reverent regard, 
the tender, chivalric attention he ever manifested for that 
mother? His devotion to his wife was beautiful, and it is 
high encomium for him and her to say that they were per- 
fectly united, and wholly worthy of each other. But 
towards his mother he displayed a love that seemed almost 
to be a worship. He never knew a father's care, and all his 
strength of soul went out upon the mother who had filled 
the place of both his parents to Iiim. We all have read 
how, upon the day of his inauguration as President, when 
he had finished his discourse, he turned to his mother and 
his wife and kissed them both, as if in this, the proudest 
moment of his life, when the applause of the great multi- 
tude was hailing him the nation's chief, he found his sweet- 
est pride and plaudits in their love. Most of us know that 
the only letter he wrote after he' had received the fatal 
wound was a note to reassure and cheer his mother in lier 
Ohio home, and have read those hopeful and courageous 
words. And he might well be a gi-ateful and hopeful son, 
for in her character and the training that she gave were 
lield, as in an acorn cup, his illustrious career. 

He was highly favored in his parentage on both his 



AN UNPARALLELED SPECTACLE. 199 

father's and Lis mother's side. His father's fainilj were 
English yeomen from the Welsh borders, who came to 
America with the early Puritans, and who were always 
known as sturdy and God-fearing men. They were chiefly 
or entirely farmers — true sons and tillers of the soil. His 
mother's family were French Huguenots, driven from the 
country by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. They 
were mostly preachers— men of great eloquence and intel- 
lectual power. And so the son inherited from the one side 
an admirable physique and perfect health, and from the 
other an instinct for study and for speech. English firm- 
ness and French fire, Saxon solidity and Celtic grace were 
blended finely in his frame. 

God sometimes forms a great man as he makes a dia- 
mond, of one element, and the person, like the jewel, is of 
wondrous brilliancy and worth; but generally, at least, in 
these days, he combines many elements and traits together, 
and so secures variety and versatility of mind. This was 
pre-eminently true in him of whom we speak. He was a 
high, yet worthy representative of the people and the in- 
stitutions of his native land. 

His country mourns for him as for her favorite and 
chusen son. But with her tears, is mingled gratified pride 
that her soil can produce such men. 

She thinks of Lincoln, of Garfield, her two murdered 
Presidents to-day, and like the Roman mother, points to 
them as her most precious gems. And that aged, widowed 
mother, sits desolate, yet glorified to-day, and while she 
weeps, she also must rejoice. She gave him to his country 
more than 20 years ago. When he decided to enlist he 
told her of his wish, and asked for her consent. For a 
while she could not give it— the struggle was severe. He 
could not go without her God-speed to the war, and she 



200 AN UNPARALLELED SPECTACLE. 

could not grant it. At last slie said, " Go, my son, yonr 
life belongs to your country, not to me." 

He has yielded his life, not upon the battle-field, but yet 
in his country's service and for her good. In her deep 
agony the mother to-day will rejoice that she pronounced 
those words. She will be glad tliat she had such a son to 
give and that she gave him for his country's good. 

I should naturally fail in the feelings of this hour if I did 
not add a few words as the representative of my country 
and countrymen. Gratitude we all feel toward all our fel 
low-citizens for the outpouring of their sympathy in this 
the hour of our distress. 

I never felt so deeply a love for all mankind as to-day. 
I never realized so much how many and how mighty are 
the cords that bind the Mother beyond the sea and the 
Daughter on this side, and how real are the common blood 
and the common sympathy. 

And on behalf of myself I must be permitted to say to- 
day, with new emphasis and feeling, God bless Her Majesty 
the Queen, and all the sons of her realm that show them- 
selves our brethren and fellow-mourners at this hour. 



LESSONS FOR THE YOUNG. 



By Bishop Clarkson, op Iowa. 



Delivered at the Memorial Service, in Des Moines, Iowa, Sept. 26, 1881. 

It may be safely said that history nowhere presents rec- 
ords of such a scene as this day's sun looks down upon. 
Fifty millions of people in actual mourning for one man, 
and the whole wide world, from end to end, bowed and si- 
lent in responsive sympathy. 

Among; all the wonders of history this hour's scene 
stands alone of its kind, and unapproachable in majesty 
and sublimity. Never has there been seen, heard or writ- 
ten of anything like it since the world began. Now, my 
friends, we take the position that all this remarkable con- 
dition of things that we see to-day on the American conti- 
nent is not to be accounted for, simply because the man 
whose death we lament was the President of the United 
States, and therefore the representative of a great nation. 
Nor yet because his terrible taking-off was associated with 
such a startling and shocking tragedy, and with such con- 
tinued and pitiable suffering, borne with a sublime hero- 
ism and a marvelous patience. 

These facts have, no doubt, contributed largely to inten- 
sify the nation's sorrow, to evoke the world's sympathy 
and to swell everywhere the melancholy pageantry of to- 

(201) 



202 LESSONS FOR THE YOUNG. 

day. Bat the real source of tins unexampled exhibition of 
human grief lies deeper than all this. It is to be found in 
the universal and unchallenged estimate of the departed 
President's character, in the radiant beauty of his great and 
stainless life. From the fierce struggles of his lonely child- 
hood up through all grades — " student, teacher, soldier^ 
statesnian, president," there was ever the same grand pic- 
ture whose magnificent colorings were truthfulness, dili- 
gence, fidelity, purity, gentleness, unselfishness, dignity and 
clean-handedness. 

And upon this grand picture of human life there ha& 
been cast, as Tennj'^son says, the shinings of the utmost pos- 
sible davliffht, and there it has ever stood and shall always 
stand, the same clear, unstained and wondrously beautiful 
and benie:nant. That is the reason whv the uncounted 
thousands of the world's population stand to-day with un- 
covered heads and unspoken emotions, by the open grave 
that is to hide away from human sight so much greatness, 
so much goodness, so much loveliness, and so much true 
nobility. What an example to the young man here who 
feels that he has something in him that can lilt itself above 
the mediocrity about him. 

The laurels that wreathe this man's splendid career, the 
tributes that cover his name with glory, the tears that are 
wept over his tragic fate, are holier triumphs far than ever 
crowned the common politician, the average statesman, or 
the successful soldier — because they are the triumphs of 
character. 

We hold up to you, young men, to-day, the inspiring name, 
Jauies Abram Garfield. Not because he achieved success 
in gaining position and power, for this is not open to you all, 
but because he achieved success in preserving a record 
undefiled by a shadow of meanness or littleness, in securing 
the affectionate admiration of all who ever touched him in 



LESSONS FOE THE YOUNG. 20a 

the manifold jostlings of life, and now in bringing upon his 
memory the benedictions of the ten times ten thousand who 
have been helped by his example upward to the right. 
Tliis is the true victory of life. 

And this victory is in some degree attainable by every 
young man before me — each one in his own sphere, stand- 
ing, working and conquering in the lot where God has 
placed him. 

One thought more. The mournful death which we this 
day lament, associated as it is with such relations of sad- 
ness and distress as to attract the gaze and the sympathy 
of tlie world, is not utterly deplorable. There is a bright 
side to it. Thank God there was among us — 3^es, even at 
our very head — such a man to live, yea, and such a man to 
die. 

We hold that the world is vastly better to-day; that our 
common humanity has been lifted to a higher level; that 
our young men have been elevated in tone and purpose, be- 
cause we have been bending in anxious grief for eighty 
days over the death-bed of such a man, watcliing with 
prayerful hope the flickering pulse of his parting life, and 
because we are now in the sacredness of a holy sorrow, 
laying him away to his final resting place, amidst the people 
M'ho loved him the most, because they knew him the best 
Life or death win equal honors for such a soul. Living, he 
was an inspiration. Suffering — we speak it reverently — 
he was Christ-like: for the sweet patience and the chastened 
resi "-nation of that Ions: aajonv was but the utterance of 
the sublime prayer, " Father forgive them, they know not 
what they do;" "and being dead he yet speaketh," and shall 
forever speak to American youth. 

Sometimes the young man who is just entering upon his 
life's work, when he observes about him so nmch trickery 
in trade, so much corruption in politics, so much sham in 



204 LESSONS FOR THE YOUNG. 

religion, or when he is oppressed by the thought of how 
long and hard the fight is to be before he gains his goal — 
or when he seems to see about him the temporary advan- 
tage the False and the Wrong, and the crowdin? into the cor- 
ner and the shade, the true and the good, he is tempted to 
lose faith in himself, faith in the right, faith in man and 
faith in the eternal realities. Oh, sad beginning this of 
many an immortal wreck. But I tell you, my young 
brother man, there is in this day's magnificent and mourn- 
ful spectacle, and in the thoughts born of it, that ought to 
charm you back from a danger like this. 

Here is first the spectacle of honest manhood, untiring 
labor, conscientious fidelity and incorruptible rectitude, 
crowned with this earth's highest civic honors, because of 
the Republic's confidence in these eternal virtues ; here is 
the generous allaying of all party strife and the marvelous 
calming down of all political animosities in the presence of 
pain and danger to the chosen one, who represents to the 
Republic's eye these great principles, and embodies them in 
his person and life — here is a mighty people bereaved in 
his death as by a personal loss, be^'ond any precedent in 
history, because he was such a man — here is the measure- 
less tide of human sympathy swelling towards the afflicted 
nation from all coasts and all shores, because he was such 
a man. 

I tell you young man, when you think of these things 
and what they sprung from, and what they lead to, you 
may look above the struggles and the rivalries and the 
shams and the falsehoods around you ; these are calculated 
to tone down your hopefulness and enthusiasm and say to 
yourself, " I have still faith in man, faith in myself, faith 
in the Nation, faith in the future, faith in the eternal power 
of right, and above all, faith in the Everlasting God who 
rules and reigns above, because such a man as James Abram 



LINCOLN AND GARFIELD. 205- 

Garfield has lived and died and conquered, has been deco- 
rated with the Republic's choicest appreciation, and goes to 
his grave to-daj garlanded with all that is holy, and all 
that is tender and all that is precious, in human sorrow. 



LINCOLN AND GARFIELD. 



By Ex. Governor Richard J. Oglesby, of Illinois. 



Delivered at the Memorial Service in Leadville, Colorado, September 26, 1881. 

Mr. Mayor, Brother Soldiers, Men of the Navt 
AND Fellow-citizens : "Wherever we turn our ejes we 
behold the signs and emblems of mourning, tokens of a 
nation's grief. 

This sad day, observed throughout the Union, is also 
appropriately kept amid these mountains by these peopler 
who never forget what is due, on all great occasions like 
this, of love to a president who has been assassinated in this 
great Republic. 

It has been supposed tyrants were reserved for this crime. 
It is perhaps not admitting too much to say the world ha& 
felt relieved when known tyrants have been removed from 
the theatre of their bloody deeds. But what are we to 
think when we witness this crime in our own midst, in our 
day? Two men, great and good men, have fallen under our 
eyes, at our door, in the beauty and glory of perfect man- 
hood — in the maturity of rounded and perfect lives, inno- 



i 



206 LINCOLN AND GARFIELD. 

cent of any wrong-doing to any human being. The breasts 
of both were filled with humanity for all mankind. And 
if it be the hand of Providence, are we to be taught the 
hard lesson that republics are not favored of God? This is 
■unendurable — this is manifestly untrue. If, then, it be the 
mvsterious hand of Providence, are we to learn that no dis- 
tinction is taken between tyrants and the truly great bene- 
factors? or shall we not rather understand from this experi- 
ence — these n^reat national bereavements — that this, regard- 
ing alike the law of God and man, assassination is the in- 
stigation and the work of cruel and abandoned men, who 
neither understaiid nor care for the institutions of govern- 
ment or the lives of men? But if Providence is still dis- 
cernible in this heart-rending crime, may we not catch the 
sunlight of the holy purpose breaking through the dark 
cloud in the dawn of a more perfect and fraternal national 
sentiment. For have we not witnessed during this great 
calamity the most beautiful and touching manifestations of 
sympathy and sorrow from all political parties, and from 
all men and associations of men of all countries and all na- 
tionalities of the nations of this earth? 

But a few years ago Abraham Lincoln fell by the hand 
of an assassin — that great, God-like, sainted man, who illu- 
minated the whole earth by his illustrious character, and 
when he fell a dark suspicion also fell upon our Southern 
fellow citizens who had lately been arrayed against us. It 
was a long time that the South, I feel constrained as an 
honest man to say, suftered under the suspicion of partici- 
pation in that national and cruel crime. 

Let me here to'-day, in the most copious and open man- 
ner, declare as only a private American citizen can declare, 
that in my opinion and in the opinion of most of the living 
thoughtful men of the day, the South had nothing what- 
ever to do with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. 



LINCOLN AND GARFIELD. 207 

James A. Garfield has fallen. I fear a dark suspicion 
lurks in tlie mind of thouo-htful women and tlioucrhtful 
men, tliat perhaps agencies may have been at work, deep 
and direful, to bring about this awful result. I believe it 
due to the dignity of this occasion, I believe it due to the 
patriot, and to the trustworthiness of American political 
history, to say for one, and for only one, but still that one 
speaking from the high plateau of American citizenship, 
that political parties, however variant and however differ- 
ent in their opinion of their hostilities, have had nothing 
under God's heaven, under God's free, shining sun, either 
secretly or otherwise, with the foul agency that resulted in 
the death of our late President. 

These great facts, fellow-citizens of Leadville, these 
great, astonishing and terrifying historical facts, will live. 
History will astonish and mortify the world long after you 
and I and these people shall have passed into the grave of 
oblivion. These terrible facts will endure as long as Ameri- 
can history shall endure, and let us, you and me, let the 
women and men to-day of this country and of this State 
contribute whatever we can in the way of truth, in the way 
of open and honest declaration, to divest that history of all 
foul and unnatural suspicioTi. But they fell — both of them 
fell, by the hands of wicked, cruel, individual, irresponsible 
men, and it is neither becoming the dignity of this occasion, 
the solemnities of this all-pervading day, nor your character, 
nor mi«e as an American citizen, that we should fritter away 
the dignity of the awful hour in unworthy and unbecoming 
imprecations upon the foul heads of the worthless men 
who brought these great disasters upon our God, our coun- 
try and our liberty. 

Of the miserable Guiteau, what does it concern you or 
me as to what his fate shall be? Whether he shall die as 
he ought to die, and a wronged and outraged sentiment be 



308 LINCOLN AND GARFIELD. 

avenged by a wronged and outraged people, or at tlie hand 
of some other assassin, or by the due process of law — it mat- 
ters not. His poor, worthless life, his poor, worthless char- 
acter, his poor, unworthy ending, can in no possible event 
be any compensation for the calamity he has brought upon 
the republican institutions. No, ladies ! no, no gentlemen! 
I will not spend an hour or a minute upon his fate ; it is 
totally unworthy of the notice, the reilection or the consid- 
eration of the humblest and most unpretentious individual 
within the reach and reverberation of my voice. God in 
heaven that rules to-day, as he has ever ruled, as you are 
taught by the lispings of the touching and eloquent prayer 
to which you have just listened, will see that not only the 
destiny of nations, but the destiny of republics among na- 
tions, shall be wisely and forever cared for. 

Women and men of these mountainous regions, whom 1 
am from to-day learn in. ^^ to love so well-you women and men 
gathered from all the States and Territories of the nations 
of this M'orld, in these isolated, remote and lofty regions do 
not forget your allegiance to yourselves; do not forget your 
allegiance to civilization; do not forget your allegiance to 
republican institutions, and do not forget your allegiance to 
God in heaven. 

As sure as time rolls on, as sure as the sun shall rise 
and illuminate with its gorgeous rays those lofty peaks that 
rear their heads heavenward above us, and continues its 
course until it reaches the "West and sinks beliind those 
mountains that are to endure forever, remember, fellow- 
citizens, one and all, that justice, and right, and humanity, 
and law, and order, and piety, and virtue, will in the end, 
triumph oyer all. 

Our government is a government of the people; our 
government is a government for the people; our govern- 
ment, thank God, is a government by the people. If it b« 



LINCOLN AND GARFIELD. 209 

not the best on earth, if it shall not finally triumph in the 
onward march of civilization, then has humanity been cre- 
ated in vain; then has every man lived to no purpose; for 
I am sure, poor and infirm man as I am, I am sure that 
God in heaven intended the lowest and commonest, and 
the most ignorant of mankind, should share equally and 
fully and finally in the glorious existence, and in the full 
enjoyment of human life and human liberty. 

The death of Lincoln, the death of Garfield, the death of 
any man or combination of men who have lived, cannot 
affect the onward march of a free, patriotic and honest 
people. A government resting upon the hearts of honest 
men, a government firmly grounded in the aff'ections of a 
pure pedple, cannot rust and perish away. 

We live, fellow citizens, and we can only live by the in- 
stitutions of governitient. You may, many of you, feel as 
I have felt; you may, all of you have felt sometimes that 
the ways of government and the ways of constitution and 
the ways of laws are hard and oppressive. Within the view 
of your vision and limited intellect, you may often feel that 
all does not go right, that liberty does not flow out equally 
to all. We havethese doubts, we have these misgivings; 
sometimes we harbor these unjust suspicions. Women and 
men, ladies aDd gentlemen, friends and countrymen, shake 
off all such thoughts, and dismiss all this ideal stuflf from 
your minds; let it waft away, this futile and senseless 
trash. Come back within the scope of your own individu- 
ality; come back within the range of the powers of thought 
and reasoning with which God endowed you ; throw away 
these false philosophies, and resolve, as I have done, to be 
true to the God in Heaven, true to the moral lessons of 
life, true to honesty, true to virtue and true to the flag of a 
Republic that waves forever a protection above our heads. 
Lincoln and Garfield were alike in many respects: both 

14 



210 LINCOLN AND (JARFIKLD. 

were of hurable and obscure origin; Ijoth lived and died 
poor; both were humane and tender by nature; both were 
soldiers; neither rose to great distinction as such, but in 
what all soldiers love and hold in the highest estimation, 
both earned the respect and good opinion of all citizens and 
patriots; both were highly gifted intellectually; both en- 
dowed with the purest and loftiest morality; both were in- 
tensely devoted to the union and universal liberty; both 
met the same untimely end; both fell from the same high 
pinnacle of fame, doomed to the same sad fate by the bullets 
of dark and bloody, minded men; and both honored and 
loved, will be forever treasured in the hearts of a grateful 
people, ever mindful of the lives of martyrs to freedom, 
i-esting forever in the affection and love of all the people of 
the Republic and of all lovers of liberty throughout the 
world. 

Here I might well aiford to stay my remarks. I feel 
that I can add nothing to relieve the deep^^ feeling that pen- 
etrates and permeates the. hearts of all who have so pa- 
tiently listened to me. Death has done its work; all these 
days of mournful solemnities througbout the entire Nation 
and the world, will close the career of the life of James A. 
Garfield. 

Fellow citizens of Leadville, it is due to you, it is due 
to your community, it is due to these people, to whom I 
am not so much a stranger as I was a year ago, yet com- 
purativelj' a stranger in your midst, that I should render 
and return to you, to your committee, to your mayor and 
councilmen, to the army, to the representatives of the State, 
to the militia, to the soldiers present, my thanks for this 
undeserved honor, for this great compliment unexpectedly 
bestowed upon me of officiating here upon this occasion. 
I live in another State; my home is in Illinois, where it 
lias been for forty-five years, but in another and a broader 



LINCOLN AND GARFIELD. 211 

and a higher sense, under the benign influence of our ex- 
pansive and generous constitution, I, like you all, like every 
one of you present, am a citizen not only of the State 
wherein I reside, but am also a citizen of each State and 
Territory of this Union. And wherever you plant your feet, 
or I shall plant my foot, within the reach and surroundings 
of our constitution, both you and I, and all of us, are at 
home and secure. All of you in Colorado, in Lake county 
and in Leadville, you and I and all of us, are equally 
and securel}' at home and at rest to-day. But there 
is something further I ought to say. As I said to 
my old friend, Judge Ward, to-daj'-, not only here, but 
wherever I shall hereafter go, it will, it shall, be most 
pleasant and agreeable to me to bear testimony to, 
the state of society that I have met with in these moun- 
tainous regions. In this State of Colorado, and in this 
city of Leadville, I uniformly encounter nothing but 
•decorum, nothing but propriety, nothing but respect, 
nothing but cordiality, nothing but sympathy and the 
highest and the best of American brotherhood. I know it 
is too freely written, too often said that here, life, property 
and peace are not secure. It is wrong, it is an unjust re- 
flection, upon the state of society that I behold before me 
to-day. Witness this demonstration of sympathy and sorrow. 
How it must affect the -heart of that pure, noble, simple 
American woman, the bosom companion, the better part 
and relict of James A. Garfleld, when she shall learn of these 
mountaineers, these miners that wield the pick and 
shovel, these men that dare to dive deep into the hidden 
riches, and mysteries of the earth, cut off" for a time from 
the tender relations of society, by raising up men, wonlen 
and cliildren, to-day, in beautiful, majestic array, to testify 
in mournino- and sorrow, under the influence of sweet, 
touching and fruitful music, their profound sympathy for 



212 GAB FIELD, THE CHRISTIAN. 

the loss the mother and the children have sustained, and 
for the loss the nation has sustained. 

I see here wherever I go, and I see here wherever I 
stroll, the sweet and gentle influence of women; — God bless 
their gentle and mild influence upon men here in Leadville^ 
I have met them, pure, refined, delicate, elegant, casting 
the influence of their modest presence upon the rougher 
tone of society; it is felt, and humanity is lifted up. God 
bless the women of America! 

Fellow-citizens, brother soldiers, soon I leave you, per- 
haps to return no more. Though not blessed with success 
myself, I can bear testimony to the success of others, and 
above that and better than that, I can and shall bear testi- 
mony to the high state of society, to the morality and to 
the Christian influence that pervades this entire atmosphere. 



GARFIELD, THE ( HRISTIAN. 



By Rev. J. W. Ingram. 



Delivered at the Memorial Services in Omaha, Neb., Sept. 26, 1881. 

My weeping brethren and sorrowing countrymen, I am 
not willino; that one word of mine should 2:0 to encouraofe 
anything like a man-worshiping spirit. Bat while the 
tongue of evil is ever busy painting in darkest colors, in 
all places, the faults and follies of our fallen race, it seems 
no less a duty than a pleasure to point the whole world to 



GARFIELD, THE CHRISTIAN. 213 

the brilliant life and beautiful Christian \nrtues of our de- 
ceased President. 

The influence of this life, and the reflections of these vir- 
tues can be confined to no class, people, or nation. In 
every land where the torch of civilization has driven back 
the darkness of barbarism, their influence has been felt, and 
all national life has been made more beautiful bv their em- 
bellishments. 

The Christianity of James A. Garfield is so closely inter- 
woven with his private and public life, that it is difticult to 
speak of one and not the other; it is the one thread of gold 
that runs through every upward step of his sublime life, 
from the dark shadows of poverty and obscurity, to the 
fullness of the glory and honor of the "ifreatest of all na- 
tions. 

The religion of this Christian statesman was not that of 
a mere outward profession, nor yet of a mere inward sen- 
timent or feeling. Prayers, songs and public services, did 
not exhaust his idea of Christianity. With him religion 
was a life, not a creed, not a dogma, not a system of meta- 
physics; but a daily cross-bearing, sacrificing, charity be- 
stowing life. 

As evidence of his princely faith in an All-wise Creator, 
a divine Pedeemer, and an inspired Bible, it might be suffi- 
cient to direct the attention of the world to his righteous 
life, and triumphant death, but along the pathway of his 
•earthy pilgrimage are repeated flashes of religious light, 
that more clearly reveal to us liis confidence in, and reli- 
ance upon a divine revelation. At the age of nineteen he 
made for the first time a public avowal of his belief in the 
gospel of God's grace. Doubtless this act was the result 
of his overpowering faith in God, and his deep sense of 
<[\\ty. No love of fame, no thirst for earthly glory, no lust 
for worldly wealth, could have impelled him to' bow bis 



214 GARFIELD, THE CHRISTIAN. 

lo3'al neck to the yoke of the Master; for the people with 
whom he made his spiritual home Avere an humhle, and 
at that time a despised people, clinging to the cross, and 
building quietly on the rock. They could be of no possi- 
ble service to him in any worldly sense whatever. 
. Later on in life, in October, 1876. he stood with uncovered 
head, face to face with death. At his feet lay the pale, life- 
less form of his own darling boy. His grief was as deep 
and sincere as his paternal love. He took a pen in his 
hand, and under the direction of his great heart, wrote a 
note to his Christian brethren, asking that a few of them 
be with him in his great trial, and ended the note by sub- 
scribing himself: "'In the hope of the gospel, so precious 
in this affliction." These are words of faith springing 
from a sorrowing heart, and penned by a trembling hand. 

Could we have gone on some bright Sunday morning a 
few months ago, and opened the door of the small, unpre- 
tentious frame church in the village of Mentor, Ohio, and 
seen the manly form of our gifted brother,' with his wife 
and children by his side, surrounded by a group of jioor, 
humble country worshipers; and could we have heard his 
deep bass voice mingling with theirs in song, and witnessed 
his humble reverence as he bowed in solemn prayer with 
them around the same altar, our confidence in the majesty 
of his taith, the humility of his heart, and the purity of 
his life, must forever remain unspoken. 

But never, since the days the Man of Sorrows ex})ired 
on the cross, did the Christian faith shine forth with more 
heavenly lustre than during the eighty long, dreary days 
of the President's suffering. "When the fatal shot was tired 
that cut him down, he was in the meridian of his numhood, 
the halo of a nation's glory was upon him, and the sun of 
his fame was high in the heavens. 

That morning when he stood in the fated depot, couvers- 



GARFIELD, THE CHRISTIAN. 215 

ing Avitli Secretary Blaine, his body was full of health, his 
heart was full of hope, and his mouth was full of words of 
promise. 

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the body was 
smitten with the arrows of death; the hopes of his heart 
were blasted forever; the world of promise and cheer were 
changed into cries of pain and anguish; the feet so lightly 
started in the path of recreation and pleasure, were rudely 
turned into the gloomy higliway leading to the shadows of 
death; but all this combined with great physical suffering, 
could not' extort from the patient Christian sufferer a sin- 
gle murmur of complaint. Did ever mortal bear so much, 
with such manly courage and Christian fortitude? And 
how free were those days of trial from evei-ything like fear 
of death, or dread of dying. 

With him there was no constant demand for the presence 
and prayers of a minister to aid him in a preparation for 
the approach of death. During life he had prepared for 
death. He relied hot so much on the power of prayer as 
the purity of life for liappiness in the far-off forever. Some 
have supposed the almost constant absence from the sick- 
chamber of the ministers of the gospel, was evidence of a 
lack of faith upon the part of the nation's ruler; but to 
my mind, it only shows that his trust was not in feeble 
clay, or the prayers of erring men, but rather in a holy life 
and forgiving Christ. 

It is the coward who has made no preparation for 
dying while living, who cries for preachers and prayers 
when the shadows of death lengthen and deepen around 
him. 

With maFvelous faith and confidence, this great man re- 
signed all to the will of the Lord. My Christian brethren 
and fellow countrymen, let us embalm in our memories for- 
ever the industrious lad, the dutiful boy, the loving son, 



216 GARFIELD, THE CHRISTIAN, 

the studious youth, the faithful husband, the devoted father, 
the generous neighbor, the gifted teacher, the brave soldier, 
the eloquent preacher, the brilliant statesman, the wise 
ruler, the patient sufferer, the pure Christian, and — our 
fallen chieftain. 

" Fallen on Zion's battle-field, 
A soldier of renown. 

Armed in the panoply of God, 
In conflict cloven down ; 

His hemlet on, his annor bright, 
His cheek unblanched with fear. 

While round his head tliere gleamed a light, 
His dying hour to cheer. 

[ '• Fallen— a holy man of God, 

An Israelite indeed, 

A standard-bearer of the cross, • 

Mighty in word and deed ; 
' A master spirit of the age, 
A bright and burning light, 

Wliose beams across the firmament 
Scattered the clouds of night. 

; " Fallen, as sets the sun at eve, 

To rise in splendor, where 

His kindred luminaries .shine. 
Their heaven of bliss to share ; 
Beyond the strong battle-lield. 
He reigns in triumph now, 
, Sweeping a harp of wondrous song, 

With glory on his brow ! " 



THE FUNCTIONS OF GREAT MEN. 



By Kev. Dk. Rankin. 



Delivered in the First Congregational Churcli, Washington, D. C, Sept. 25, 1881. 

Is. iii., 1-3— "For, behold the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, doth take away from Jerusa- 
lem and from Judea the mighty man, the man of war, the honorable man, the 
counselor, and the eloquent orator." 

There is no function of society, said the reverend speaker, 
more vital than the choice of rulers. In this country it is 
an anointing holier than that of a king. It is the utter- 
ance of a voice which is the voice of God. What foreigner 
or citizen thinks of this Nation without thinkino: of her 
great men ? And we are largely what these great men 
have helped to make us. Disorganizers of society look 
upon great men as in some sense usurpers, as having crowd- 
ed their way to stations of prominence by jostling aside 
their betters. Thus the Nihilist prepares his hand-grenade, 
and the assassin his revolver. They do not reflect that pre- 
paration for such positions is of God — that they are God's 
gifts. "Brutus and Csesar!, What should be in that 
•C'Pesar ?" They talk as Cassius talked to Brutus. 

Irreverence for rulers is one of the perils of a republic. 
It is all true, as Goldsmith says, that a breath can give 
dignity and station. But the breath that calls men to such 
places cannot make them lit to occupy them. How peace- 
ful was the heart of this great Nation to feel that at last 

(217) 



218 THE FUNCTIOXS OF GREAT MEN. 

there was a genuine, tj-pical American in the presidential 
chair! " Upon this arm can I lean; this head, this heart 
can I trust." This is what she said. 

But there is something grander than the place to which 
James Abram Garfield was called, in the fact that he was 
the product of our free institutions. The American people 
did not make him great. Had they never selected him ta 
occupy the presidential chair the man had been the same. 
And we may well ask if God did not give him the place^ 
and his brief career in it, only that the people might love 
him better, and take his name and his memor}"- more into- 
their hearts forever. The highest product of American 
national life is neither patrician nor plebeian. It blends and 
unites them both. It has tlie patrician culture with the 
plebeian heart. Washington stands at the head of one type^ 
Lincoln at the head of the other. Do we err when we inti- 
mate that Garfield illustrates them both ? A plebeian, a 
common man in all his sympathies ; a patrician in the 
quality of his mind and the extent of his culture. President 
Garfield's honors came to him unsought. They came so- 
fast he could not keep up w^ith them. 

The greatness which he achieved he did not struggle for,, 
but sfrew into. Life laid her honors at his feet. Place 

CI 

after place cried out for him. He stood up in a great con- 
vention to advocate the claims of another. He became at 
once the cynosure of all eyes; he ravished all ears. He 
could not be true to another without being his own best 
self It was nothing new ; it had been so all his life long. 
There he stood ; how could the people help taking him? 
His nomination was an inspiration. It was foreordained, 
like the consummate bloom of the flower. 

This man's uower never deo-enerated. Tie was reverent 
of •'•ood things by nature, and to him all good things were 
great. He had no flipi)ant flings for the religion of his- 



THE FUNCTIONS OF GREAT MEN. 219' 

mother. He revered the great New England teacher ; 
and when the assassin first sought him it was in the sanc- 
tuary of God. He finished his education in New England. 
It was fitting that New England hands should place .the 
capital on this column, which was to go into the temple of 
freedom side by side with Washington and Lincoln ; that 
he who began his studies where he heard the language of 
the Great Lakes, should conclude them where he conld 
listen to the hymn which the Pilgrims heard when they 
laid our first foundations. 

He was the united, the consummate flower of the New 
England of the East and the New England of the West. 
Do you ask me why he was so rudely and cruelly taken? 
Not for his own sake, we may be very sure. He was our 
President — our representative. In smiting him God has 
smitten us. Do not our relations to God need fresh read- 
justment? Have we kept the covenant we made with Him 
when he walked with us in the furnace of fire? Have the 
men in our highest places kept it? We have Christian 
convictions as to the Indian question, as to Mormonism, as 
to trafiic in liquors. Are we true to them? It is a great 
thiuff to feel that though the man at the wheel is striken 
down, the Ship of State moves majestically on; that the 
footsteps of God are in the seas before her. 

Such a Government as this cannot die. It does not rest 
in any one man. Tlie same authority which made Garfield 
President indicated his successor. We turn away from 
Garfield, dead, not to forget him. If he has made mis- 
takes—as who of our greatest have not, and have we not 
forgiven them? — let us remember that his hand was scarcely 
familiar with the helm of state; that he was yet in the 
narrows of his administration, and that his greatest mistake 
must always have sprung from a great loving heart that 
feared no ill, because it meant none— a man always more 



-220 THE FUNCTIONS OF GREAT MEN. 

sinned against than sinning. In taking one, God has given 
another. The man whom the people named second, God 
has now named first. No unlineal hand takes the sceptre; 
bnta man of character and purpose, true and tried; a man 
who has walked in the shadow of one great eclipse with a 
pathetic discreetness which has won all hearts, and whose 
first official acts and utterances give assurance that with 
the&c unsought responsibilities has come to him peculiar 
grace from God, If he has made his mistakes we bury 
them in that still open grave of his predecessor. 

May we not close with the lines in which the poet Ten- 
jijson finishes the poem Mort d' Arthur? 

" The old order changeth, yielding place to her, 
And God fulfills Himself in many ways, 
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. 
******** 

And so to bed ; where yet in sleep I seemed 

To sail with Arthur under looming shores. 

To me methought 

There came a barque that, flowing forward, bore 

King Arthur, a modern gentleman 

of stateliest part ; and all the people cried : 

Arthur is come again; he cannot die!" 

"When the Nation awakens from her grief, may she find 
the parable true. Then shall be fulfilled the prophecy: 
*'Thou shalt be no more called Forsaken. Neither shall 
thy land be termed an}^ more Desolate. But thou shalt be 
called Hephzibah and thy land Beulali. For the Lord de- 
lighteth in thee." 



1 



WHY WE MOURN. 

By N. R. Harper, Esq. 



Delivered at the opening of the Special Memorial Services, held by the Colored 
People of Louisville, Ky., Sept. 26, 1881. 

This service was held in tlie opera house. On the 
stao-e chairs were arrano^ed in a semi-circle, with three 
chairs in the center. Those in a semi-circle were thirty- 
live in number, which, with the three in the center, made 
a number equal to the number of States in the Union. 
These chairs were occupied by the girl pupils of the public 
schools, each one of them holding a small placard in her 
hand, with the name of one of the States printed in large 
letters across it. All the girls, except the three occupying 
the chairs in the center, were dressed in white; those in 
the center representing the three States, Ohio, New Jersey 
and Kentucky, were dressed in mourning. These were 
called the mourning States, because Garfield died in one, 
was buried in another, and the people of Kentucky univer- 
sally lament his untimely death. iVcross the front of the 
stage were arranged chairs for those who were to take part 
in the exercises, the seats in the front rows of the parquet 
being reserved for the choir and school children. The in- 
side of the building was draped in mourning in a very 
handsome manner, and each one of the girls representing 
the three mourning States held a large portrait of the 

(221) 



222 WHY WE MOURN. 

President, heavily draped in mourning. The meeting was 
presided over by N. R. Harper, Esq. 

Ladies and Gentlemen: — Pursuant to arrangements per- 
fected in a recent mass-meeting of the colored citizens of 
Louisville, I announce to you the opening of the exercises 
at this hour. 

The question may be asked by some why we, as colored 
citizens, should single ourselves out for special memorial 
services on our part, when the same shot that rang out in 
the ladies' waiting-room at the Baltimore and Potomac 
depot, in Washington City, on the 2d da3'- of last July, was 
felt alike by all citizens throughout the length and breadth 
of our common country? Why should we, as a class of 
citizens of Louisville, where all hearts are bowed down with 
the sadness of this hour, when the booming of cannon, and 
the mournful pealing of bells utter the lamentations of our 
city? — why should we thus particularly address ourselves 
to the public at this hour? The answer to these questions 
may be given — that a Divine hand had so shaped the des- 
tiny of colored Americans, that we can feel and realize to 
the fullest extent the power and influence of a tried, true 
and faithful friend, or the blows of a heartless, uncharita- 
ble foe. And who is there who can more faithfnllv inter- 
pret the emotions of our hearts than we ourselves, who feel, 
as no other class of citizens in this country can feel, that a 
friend to American liberty has been called away? To-day, 
as a race, we mourn the loss of a tried, true and faithful 
friend. The sequel shows that every man who, in the dark 
years of the past, gave his time, his talent, his voice and 
his vote to the work of driving oppression from the land, in 
order that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness might, 
indeed, become the star of hope for the American people; 
such man was the tried, true and faithful friend of the col- 



WHY WE MOURN. 223 

ored citizens of America. This meeting, therefore, can but 
faintly express tlie sentiment of the colored citizens of Lou- 
isville in this hour of national grief and mourning. The 
crowned spirit which took its flight heavenward on last 
Monday night, as James A. Garfield, was a tried, true and 
faithful friend of our race. He has left us. " After life's 
fitful fever lie sleeps well." Assassination has done its 
Y^orst, Nor malice, strife, envy, life's trials and tribula- 
tions, nothing can touch him further. But, even amid the 
darkness of this national gloom, hope sees a star, and from 
its silvery rays, flashing from the throne of light, reveals in 
eolden lines, "America, live on; live ever!" 
, At, the conclusion of Mr. Harper's address, the choir 
ranged themselves in order across the stage, and sang the 
opening anthem: "To Thee, O Lord, I yield my spirit." 

KEV. T. B. Caldwell's peayer. 

"O God of Nations! Chief Arbiter of all things! 
King of Kings and Lord of Lords ! In Thy presence we 
come this day, humbly acknowledging Thy power, ihou 
art mighty; Thou canst work and no one can hinder Thee. 
With The^e are the issues of life and death. Thy tender 
mercy and loving kindness have followed us all the dayi of 
our life, even until now, and Thine infinite love embraces 
us as a goodly-fitting garment. Thou art the same un- 
changeable God as Thou wast in the beginning, and shall 
be through all eternity. O Lord, we desire Thy help in 
this dark hour of our bereavement. We pray Thee, our 
Father, for Thy sustaining grace, while we bow to the 
stroke of Thy rod of provklence. We are ignorant, but 
Thou art wise. As far as the heavens are above the earth, 
so far are Thy ways above ours. We pray Thee to look from 
Thy throne of glory in the heavens upon this Nation, bathed 
in tears, and while we mourn, be Thou our comforter. 



224 



WHY WE MOURN. 



Turn our sadness into joy, and by Thy wonderful provi- 
dence, turn this calamity to the good of our country, clear 
away the shadows of death from the grave of our departed 
President. Kemeinber, O Lord, we pray Thee, that heroic 
woman, who has tenderly watched by the death-bed of our 
dead Kuler through all these weary days— may she lean 
upon Thy strong arm and find support in this, the darkest 
hour of her widowhood and bereavement. Be unto her a 
husband and unto her children a father. Bless his mother, 
that one who, in the days of his youth, taught him to love 
Thee. O Lord, support her in her old age, and may con- 
solation take hold upon her lieart, when she realizes that 
she will soon be with her son u])on the golden shore, whefe 
no assassin can come to rob her of her ' baby.' We pray 
Thee to bless those who were with him during his affliction, 
and endeavored to win him back to strength, and as they 
mingle their tears to-day with ours, may they be comforted 
in the assurance that they have done their duty. Bless 
President Arthur. Give him the wisdom to fill the office 
vacant by the hand of death. May he trust in Thee and 
follow the example set before him. May he rule in right- 
eousness and in Thy holy love. We pray Thee also, O 
Lord, to remember poor Guiteau, the assassin, shut out 
from the sunliglit, incarcerated in his cell and hated by all 
men. O God, we pray Thee, Thou who art the sinner's 
friend, have mercy upon his guilty soul. Guide us as a na- 
tion, watch over us as a people, and at last save us, we ask, for 
our Redeemer's sake. Amen." 



r 



I 



WE ALL MOURN. 



By Captain Henry Jackson. 



Delivered at the Memorial Service in Atlanta, Ga., Sept. 26, 1881. 

Fifty millions of people, of every shade of political opin- 
ion, of every form of religion; people from all the ends of 
the earth, from every section of this land, stand to-day be- 
fore an open grave, with heads bowed in sorrow and humili- 
ation ; sorrow for greatness stricken of its glory, sorrow for 
the suffering widow and children. No such shock as this 
was ever before known in our country. 

The president once fell by the hand of violence, but that 
was fresh upon the clash of contending armies. But now, 
in a time of profound peace, in a time of unparalleled na- 
tional prosperity, when there is no bitterness between the 
sections or the two parties, when the national sun was 
shining with brilliancy, when the Goddess of Liberty was 
radiant — at that very moment the head of the government 
falls before the hand of the assassin. 

The scene that is presented before us is one that the 
world has never before witnessed. "What is it due to ? It 
is due to the character of our institutions; to their possi- 
bility for developing the highest good or the direst evil. 
Under our institutions every man has an opportunity to 
reach a position which his su])erior talents entitle him to, 
15 (225) 



226 WE ALL MOURN. 

at the same time the liberality of our institmions leaves a 
gate open where weak minds, or hearts black and tainted 
with crime, can go in and work irreparable damage. 

No matter liow we liave differed in the past, now it seems 
Garfield was a great and good man. 

Twenty years ago, Lincoln was regarded as a bad man, 
and yet to-day there is scarcely an intelligent man who 
does not admit that he was honest and great, and that his 
death was the severest bloM'' that the South ever received. 

The shot of Goiteau has demonstrated beyond all 
peradventure the attachment of tlie people of the South 
for the whole country. They knew not the President, 
and yet, when violence attacked him, the men, women, and 
the very children cried out with indignation. They prayed 
that the assassin mii^ht not prove to be from the South, and 
for nearly three months they waited with bated breath every 
bulletin. 

The following resoultions by the special committee from 
Coeur de Leon Commandery were read at this meeting by 
Kight Eminent TV. D. Luckie : 

Amidst the mourning of the whole land, the people of this 
city, led in a solemn service by the order of Knights 
Templar, of which our late heroic President was an hon- 
ored member, would lament the untimely and unhappy 
severance of all their earthly relations with him by the ab- 
rupt thrust of rude and cruel death. 

Widespread as is his own country's broad domain, hangs 
this day the sable cloud of popular sorrow, from which 
universal tears are falling. This day the States of the 
Union unite in a new brotherhood of grief over their com- 
mon loss. 

The people e??- masse are claiming that the bereavement 
is their own, for they were learning when he fell that he 
was the President of the whole country. 



WE ALL MOURN. 227 

Society suffers the pang of separation from a genial com- 
panion, and the republic of letters losing a cultured citizen 
would show its own peculiar grief. 

The families of the land bewail with common sorrow the 
loss of an illustrious and exemplary son, liusbancl, father. 

The genius of republican government intensely resenting 
the manner of his death, presents mournful but exalted 
tributes to his patriotism, intelligence and virtue. 

And religion asserts its rightful place in the general la- 
ment, but commits even with tearful eyes the child of 
grace unto Him who has received his redeemed spirit into 



glorv. 



Thus, also, this order came in union with all to oifer its 
tribute to his memory, who was one of the knightliest 
soldiers of the cross. 

Henceforth, with special pleasure, his biography from 
his earliest years to the close of his life, will be placed in 
the hands of our American youth, that they may emulate 
the character of one, who with proper ambition and gener- 
ous endeavors, attained the highest places of honor and 
usefuhiess, while he maintained his Christian virtues and 
kept himself in the fear of God. 

That Divine providence has in infinite wisdom already 
made the circumstances of the revolting assassination pro- 
duce good in the land we can faithfully trust. That the 
sentiment which the thrilling event created and developed 
has pervaded the hearts of all the people of our great coun- 
try, calls for universal congratulation; and that the future 
of our government will be happily shaped by the patriotic 
and pious influences this day profoundly felt everywhere, 
is a hope for whose realization all good people do most de- 
voutly pray! 

Tlins cherishing in memory all the virtues of our la- 
mented president, and with reverent awe submitting to the 



228 WE ALL MOURN. 

Divine Will, we desire to express our sense of the bereave- 
ment in these declarations: 

1. We declare our indio-nation at the revoltino* and in- 
iquitous assassination of the president, deploring that in 
all this country one man could exist who was capable of so 
great a crime. 

2. We revere the memory of him who was at once pa- 
triot, president and brother — who lived and died a Chris- 
tian man. 

3. We send to the venerable mother, to the devoted wife, 
to the fatherless children, every sentiment of sympathy, and 
would claim them, in common with the country, as a sa- 
cred trust. 

4. We bow our will submissively to God, and making 
record of this paper, do direct that a copy be forwarded 
to the Grand Commandery of the State, and that another 
copy be transmitted to the family. 



THE PERFECT MAN. 



k 



By Elder J. Z. Taylor. 



Delivered at the Memorial Services iu Kansas City, Mo., Sept. 26, 1881. 

We have met on this sad day to pay the last tribute of 
respect to our departed President. Fifty million people 
to-day in this great country are uniting with us in this me- 
morial, and even from foreign shores comes the assurance 
that the hearts of all mankind are with us in this reverent 
memorial. "We come to express this tribute to the mem- 
ory of the grandest man of all ages. The mightiest pro- 
duct of this or any other country, torn from u? in the full 
bloom of his usefulness by the hand of an assassin, and 
while we contemplate this scene, we cannot but feel that 
there must be some disarrangement in the plans of Provi- 
dence, some mighty revolution in the spheres, else why 
was not the bullet stayed in its progress? why was not the 
arm palsied that directed the blow, and the death of him 
whose untimely end we all mourn to-day averted? 

Yet, even in this crisis, we are reminded of the words of 
the famous statesman and know that God reigns and that 
His mercies are infinite, although we may not be able to 
fathom the depths of His mysterious Providence. 

'• God moves in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform." 

(229) 



230 . THE PERFECT MAX. 

The grandeur and power of a great life, continued the 
speaker, is not weakened by its duration. One single act 
may influence all the ages. We measure life by what it 
accomplishes. The history of this man and his success lies 
in the fact that he was the embodiment of all that was 
o-rand, noble and pure in human life. Around his sufier- 
ing bed gathered the hearts of fifty millions of people. Up 
from the hearts of the great American Nation arose the 
praj^er, " Oh, if it be possible, let this cup pass from us, 
nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." 

His history was not a long one. He was born on the 
19th of November, 1831, and left an orphan at 2 years. 
He supported his widow^ed mother by manly toil, and thus 
o-ained that strength of body and mind which carried him 
to the highest place in the gift of this Republic. 

His progress was stead}" from the tow-path to the presi- 
dential chair, the highest gift in the province of any peo- 
ple or any nation. He was a man of great intellectual en- 
dowment and fine physique. He could take his stand in 
the front rank of the intellects of the age. He was a la- 
borious man — a toiler. The industrj'^ which characterized 
him in his youth, when he cut 100 cords of wood for $25 
and gave the money to his mother, characterized him in 
his public life, and as Congressman Havens remarked, 
" He was the most laborious man in the halls of Congress.'^ 
He was a man characterized by virtues and upright habits. 
He carried these habits throughout his life. He was, how- 
ever, a man of deep convictions. He said : " There is 
one with whom I must always be on good terms. I am 
compelled to walk with him, eat with him, sleep with him 
— I mean myself." He meant his conscience, and he 
lived up to this life-rule. 

AYhen preaching in "Washington I never missed Garfield 
on Sunday from his seat in the house of worship. "When 



THE PERFECT MAN. 231 

we were about to leave Mentor, Garfield's voice could be 
heard above all the voices singing: " All hail the power of 
Jesus' name." 

That was James A. Garfield's great nature. He was a 
Christian in the highest sense of the term. It made him 
a faithful and loving son, a devoted husband and father, and 
a true friend. He was the most perfect man physically, 
morally, intellectually and spiritually, that the ages have 
ever produced. 

From this we may learn the great lesson that politics may 
be pure. James A. Garfield's life demonstrates the fact 
that a man may be a Christian and a politician and a states- 
man at the same time. We may learn that the American 
people will hold in their hearts a noble aim and an honor- 
able life. It will teach future aspirants that if they would 
attain to the highest place of honor they must be men of 
virtue and integrity. We learn further the lesson that it is 
in the power of the humblest to attain positions of honor. 
This gi-eat country offers such hopes to every young man 
in the United States. 

The grandest achievement of our sainted President lay 
in the fact that he was an humble follower of the lowly 
Savior. The American heart beats toward the Savior as 
the rightful ruler over human consciences. He could look 
down to the dark valley — it had no terrors for him. 

Death had been robbed of its sting. Our beloved chief- 
tain passed away in tlie hope guaranteed by the Lord Jesus 
Christ — the hope of a better life. In conclusion, the speaker 
volunteered other eloquent tributes to Garfield, who had 
been a member of his church, and whom he had known 
personall}', and preached to in Washington. 

A chorus of school children, led by Major White, sang 
beautifully : " Mark the tolling of the bell." 



THE LAMENTED PRESIDENT. 



Br Hon. Roger A. Pryor. 



Delivered at a meeting of Union and Confederate soldiers, in Brooklyn, Sept. 22, 

188L 

Mr. Chairman: — I have a melancholy pleasure in partic- 
ipating in this demonstration of respect to the memor}' of 
our lamented President, and in uniting with the Nation 
in its expression of anguish over the bereavement that has 
befallen it. 

Gen. Garfield was a person of such amiable and eniraorino' 
virtues, and was in every way so worthy of the felicity 
awaiting him in his exalted station, that his sudden fall 
smites us with the shock of a cruel disappointment. Just 
chosen to the Chief Magistracy of the Republic by the ac- 
claiming voice of his countrymen, endowed with every fac- 
ulty essential to the successful discharge of its duties, and 
cheered and sustained by the support of the people, he 
would have achieved among the rulers of the earth an hon- 
orable and an imperishable fame, and would have transmit- 
ted his name to posterity in association with the illustrious 
men who have imparted dignity and renown to the Amer- 
ican Union. 

But, untimely though his end may seem, he had lived 
long enough for his own glory. He cannot be said to 

(232) 



THE LAMENTED PRESIDENT. 233 

perish prematurely, who has ah-eady fulfilled the offices of 
■civic and of martial life, and who has blazoned his name 
with the double lustre of the statesman and the soldier. 
And while, had he survived, the passions of party might 
have obscured the radiance of his character, and have 
eclipsed somewhat the splendor of his career, he sinks now 
amidst the universal lamentations of the people and in the 
full effulgence of an unclouded promise. The stroke that 
removes him from the scene consecrates him in the heart 
of the Nation, lends a tragic pathos to his fate, and invests 
his memory with the halo of a sacrificial offering. Here- 
after, as often as men shall revert to the incidents of this 
catastrophe, and the sad story will be a theme of undying 
interest, they will accord to the martyr the tear of pity and 
the homage of veneration. 

But while, as short-sighted mortals, we are confounded 
by the blow which shatters so many cherished hopes and 
affronts our imperfect sense of justice, let us not mistrust 
the wisdom and benevolence of the overruling Providence; 
but let us, rather, piously confide that from the cloud of 
calamity will issue a blessing to the Nation. Already, in 
the manifestations of mourning prevalent throughout the 
South, we discern the tokens of that union of hearts which 
is the surest safeguard of the union of States. And who 
will repel the fond belief that in the presence of this awful 
catastrophe, the clamor of sectional contention will be soft- 
ened and subdued into an accordant strain of fraternal sym- 
pathy; and that around the bier of our departed President 
the scattered children of the household will be gathered in- 
to the embrace of a reconciled and reunited family. So 
may it be, and the life of the Republic be as invulnerable 
and immortal as the career of its chief was brief and pre- 
carious! 



IN LONDON. 



Minister Lowell's Ad Iress in Exeter HalL 



[Among those present were the Spanish and Brazilian Jlinisters, the Belgian and 
Russian Charge d'Affaires, the Brazilian, Belgian and Chinese Secretaries of Le- 
gation, the military attache of the German Embassy, Mr. John Bard, Mr. Fish, 
late Minister to Berne, Mr. Seligman, Mr. Thomas Hughes, the Count of Monte- 
hello, the Lady Mayues and ex-Senator Miller of Georgia.] 

We meet to testify our respect for the character and 
services of the late President, and to offer such consolation 
as is possible to the noble widow, suffering as few women 
have ever been called upon to suffer. It seems a paradox, 
but the only alleviation of our grief is the sense of the 
arreatness and costliness of the sacrifice that has caused it. 

It is no exaggeration to say that the recent profoundly 
touching spectacle of womanly devotedness has moved the 
heart of mankind in a manner unprecedented. To Ameri- 
cans everywhere it comes home with a pang of mingled 
sorrow and pride, and of unspeakable tenderness that none 
but ourselves can feel. Yet you will all agree that the 
feeling of universal sympathy expressed here by all classes 
has made us sensible, as never before, that we are in a 
strange, but not in a foreign, land; that we are at least in 
what Hawthorne called the old home. 

I should do injustice to your feelings, no less than to 
my own, if I did not offer here our grateful acknowledg- 
ments to the august lady who, herself not unacquainted 

(234) 



IN LONDON. 235 

with grief, has shown so repeatedly and touching! j how 
a true woman's heart can beat under the royal purple. 

Ehetoric i-elative to President Garfield's noble end is out 
of the question. If we were allowed to follow the prompt- 
ings of our own hearts we should sum all up in the sacred 
words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." 

The death scene was unexampled. The whole civilized 
world gathered about it. Let us thank God that it was 
through the manliness, the patience and tlie religious forti- 
tude of the noble victim that the tie of human brother- 
hood was thrilled. 

That " touch of nature that makes the whole world kin," 
is the touch of heroism, our sympathy with which dignifies 
and ennobles. 

When dying, though there were few from whom death 
wrenched a richer heritage, there were few who would, like 
Garfield, die well daily for eleven weeks. The fibre that 
could stand such a strain is only used in tlie making of 
heroic natures. Gen. Garfield, twenty years ago, offered 
his life for his country. He has now died for her as truly 
as if he had fallen dead then. His blood has cemented the 
fabric of the Union; his example is a stimulus to his coun- 
trymen forever. 

Like the career of Joseph, Garfield had a similar humble 
beginning, and has died the tenant of an ofiice second to 
none on earth. 

It would be improper to discuss the character of him 
who is now our Chief Magistrate, but there is no indeco- 
rum in saying, what is known to all, that he is a gentle- 
man of high intelligence and of unimpeachable character 
and ability. 

I am not a believer that a democratic more than any 
other form of government will work of itself, but in com- 
mon with you all, I have imperturbable faith in the honesty 



^36 



IN LONDON. 



intelligence and good sense of the American people and in 
the destiny of the American Republic. Gen. Garfield 
once said to me: " There may be a defect in my character* 
but I never could hate anybody." 

Resolutions deploring the great public misfortune of a 
death which plunged a nation in lasting sorrow, sympa- 
thizing with the late President's mother and widow, and 
acknowledo-ing the affectionate solicitude of the Queen and 
people of England, were adopted in solemn silence, all the 
audience rising to their feet. 

Eloquent speeches were made by ex-Collector Merritt of 
ISlew York, Bishop Simpson, Rev, Mr. Channing, Junius S. 
Morgan, Moncure D. Conway, and others. 



r 
i 



■4! 



U 



PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO GEN. GARFIELI>. 



JOHN G. WHITTIER THE POET. 

Amesbury, Mass. 

And now, when South and North, Democrat and Eepub- 
lican, radical and conservative, lift their voices in one un- 
broken chord of lamentation ; when I see how, in spite of 
greed of gain, hist of office, strifes and meanness of party 
politics, the great heart of the Nation proves sound and 
loyal, I feel a new hope for the Kepublic, I have a firmer 
faith in its stability. It is said that no man liveth to him- 
self, and the pure and noble life of Garfield, and his slow, 
long martyrdom, so bravely borne in view of all, are, I be- 
lieve, bearing for us as a people " the peaceable fruits of 
righteousness." We are stronger, wiser, better for them. 



THE LOED BISHOP OF MONTEEAJ.. 
In St. George's Church, Montreal, Canada. 

A WAENING voice Strikes on the ear from the death -scene 
of one who filled a large space in the eye of the world. 
The late President of the United States, struck down by 
the hand of a dastardly assassin—" the dead yet speaketh." 
The chosen head of a great nation— the grandeur of his 
simple, upright character, illustrated by a life of fearless 

, (237) 



238 PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO GEN. GARFIELD. 

courage and a death of Christ-like patience, presses on our 
hearts by his premature and violent death the wisdom of 
considering the shortness of time, and of working while it 
is called "to-day." The trne patriot — the ardency of his 
affection, adorned by filial piety and domestic faithfulness, 
appeals touchingly to our tenderest sympathies, exliorting 
to kindness, gentleness, love — " seeing that here we have 
no continuing city." 

My object at present is further to speak a few words of 
the late noble President. I said just now that his was a 
premature death — it seems so to us; seeing that he had 
only numbered fifty years, and had just entered with wis- 
dom and confidence on a course that bade fair to promote 
the best interests of the great nation over whose destinies 
he was called to preside. Yet it was not premature. We 
have faith in God. The President's work was done, and 
well done. His life measured by his active usefulness, 
was a long life. lie had finished the work God had given 
him to do; and Avhen we see by the light of eternity, we 
shall see that the very time and place, and way were the 
best for his departure from this existence. We are sure of 
this, for the Christian world was on its knees supplicating 
for the President's life; with us not only was there public 
prayer, but also, as I visited in various missions, in family 
and social prayer, there was a petition for the President, 
and a cry for help, and strengtli and comfort from God for 
those who waited in terrible anxiety and anguish on the is- 
sue of the struggle between life and death. Plis death 
was not premature. The senseless cruelty of the act drew 
the attention of the world, and the worth of the victim 
fifave to the world a splendid lesson of all that is great in 
man of goodness, courage, manliness, energy, virtue, com- 
bined with trust in God — a lesson to which history will 
point, saying to princes and rulers, " Go and do thou like- 



PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO GEN. GARFIELD. 2:39 

wise." I dare not draw aside the curtain that hides yet 
tells of the grief of that stricken home. We will each 
pray, and unitedly pray — " O God, of Thine infinite mercy 
bind up the broken heart, heal the wounded spirit, minis- 
ter to the afflicted ones that strong consolation which 
Thine own tender and wise hand alone can bestow.' 



A class-mate's reminiscexces. 

DR. FRANKiJN NOBLE, Washington, D. C. 

My words can add notliing to his fame. I am honored 
that I can say I knew him. I met him first when he was 
entering Williams Colleo;e. One could see that he was 
poor. He began poor, and never had time to grow rich. 
His sLender property refuted the slander of corruption. 
With his talents and opportunities he remained poor, only 
because he would not take money corruptly. He made his 
way independently, but if he leaves his family rich it is by 
the gifts of a grateful people. But he was rich in cordial- 
ity. His smile as he held out his hand in our first meeting 
was the same as when I saw him last, just before he was 
stricken down. He was hearty and princely in hospitality 
and cordial friendliness. In college he soon took high 
rank. His honorary graduating oration on " The Seen and 
the Unseen, " suggests that he reached the heights of schol- 
arship. He was called the best, read historian in Congress. 
His speeches are original and suggestive. 

He entered college a Christian ; his voice was heard in 
prayer-meetings, and he worked with Hammond, the evan- 
gelist, in a backv,-oods mission Sunday school. Twenty-five 
years ago last 4th of July, a company of students spent the 
night on Mount Greylock. As they were lying down to 
sleep Garfield said : " Boys, I read a chapter in the Bible 



240 PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO GEN. GARFIELD. 

every niglit with ray mother. If you please, I will read it 
aloud, " and afterward he asked the oldest of them to lead 
in prayer. 

One Sunday, ''some years ago, I preached here. He 
learned of it and came, bringing two classmates to hear 
me, and as we went away his talk was a pleasant and dis- 
criminating criticism of my sermon. 

But the best witness is his pastor's — that he was regular 
and faithful in his own church. That was the every-day 
religion that was at call when he was laid low, and that 
did not fail him in the face of death. And by such men 
the country is saved; such integrity and broad statesman- 
ship as his influencing other statesmen and elevating all. 
Some thought Christ's life of no avail in a wicked world: 
and some say, " AVhat avails one good and wise man?" It 
avails much. God does not make such men in vaim 

After a while men will speak of Garfield along with Lin- 
coln and Washington. His life and character will be 
wrought into the Nation's life and character. They will 
quote his speeches — especially, I think, those of the sum- 
mer of 1880 — with Washington's farewell address and Lin- 
coln's Gettysburg speech. Men who fail to admire him 
will be ashamed to say so. The land is to be saved by 
largeness and greatness like his. Tliere are also personal 
lessons to us each one. They are: 

First — The worth of work. Garfield worked during col- 
lege vacations. I knew him to work all night. His so- 
called " luck " was hard, unceasing work. 

Second — The worth of prayer. He was no stranger ta 
prayer; and when he fell the Nation fell to praying with- 
out hesitation. Even Ingersoll is said to have said — " God 
help us." We have learned a habit of prayer. 

Third — the worth of a complete character. Work and 
prayer make a complete man. Such was he. Such a one 



PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO GEN. GARFIELD. 241 

is useful in affairs, peaceful in the face of death, blessed in 
the memory of men. Such may we be. 



A FELLOW student's RECOLLECTIONS. 

I. A. Edson, D.D., Indianapolis, Ind. • 

The demands of an era like this will perhaps be met most • 
fully if each tries frankly to say that which lies nearest to • 
his own personality. It is too early to treat the theme' 
exhaustively or elaborately. This man belongs to history 
and to the race. No small clan of partisans could encircle 
his greatness while he lived ; no sect, or party, or people 
has proprietorship of him now that he is dead. A student, 
a teacher, a clergyman, a soldier, a statesman, the President, 
with mother, wife and children around him, touched noble 
life at every point, and handled nothing which he did not, 
dignify and adorn. 

My own immediate knowledge of James A. Garfield wasi 
as a fellow student at Williams College. In the autumn of. 
1852, entering as sophomore, I was lodged in old West Col-; 
lese, at the southwest corner of the second floor, with Phin-. 
eas W. Hitchcock, who, having served as United States Sen- 
ator from Nebraska, died suddenly last July. Across the 
the narrow hall, with another student from New York Mills,, 
was Garfield's class-mate, Ferdinand, now Colonel Rockwell^ 
one of the prominent and beautiful figures of this chamber 
of suffering and death. After two years, arrived the future 
President, entering his class as junior and accompanied from 
the West by an associate who walked with crutches— the com- 
plete physical contrast ol his vigorous and symmetrical room- 
mate, though intellectual sympathy furnished ample grounds 
for the close companionship. The two made a striking 
pair. For a time they sat with us at Mrs. Tyler's tablf. 

16 



242 PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO GEN. GARFIELD. 

Without delay Garlield won respect and admiration. Al- 
ready he had that marvelous friendliness of manner which 
afterward conquered everything. He was transparent 
and natural. He had the habits of morality and re- 
ligion. His mind possessed both breadth and sym- 
metry. He was powerful in debate. His chosen objects 
he pursued with tremendous ener":v and enthusiasm. Long 
before a year had passed he was a recognized leader. There 
were manifold prophecies of coming eminence. And the 
man left College, as he was to leave Congress, without an 
enemy." 



CEN. Sibley's tribute. 



St. Paul, Sept. 26, 1881. 

Fellow-citize.vs :- -We have met toofcther this day to 
perform our part of a sad and solemn duty. In common 
with millions of our countrymen at this hour, when the 
lifeless body of the late president of the Republic is being 
entombed in the city of Cleveland, we assemble to mourn 
his untimely death, and to evince our profound respect for 
for his memor3\ It seems but a little time since his inau- 
guration, whon his clarion voice gave utterarrce to patriotic 
sentiments which thrilled the public heart, and inspired the 
conviction that he would rise above all sectional and party 
trammels, and administer the government with a single 
eye to the general welfare. 

Less than four months had elapsed when the horror and 
consternation, not only of our citizens, but of foreign na- 
tions, and in a time of peace and general prosperity, the 
bullet of a base and cowardly assassin found a lodgment in 
the vitals of the president and closed his earthly existence, 
after a gallant struggle for life of nearly three months of 
fearful suffering. During this interval, the solicitude of 






PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO GEN. GARFIELD. 243 

our people for his recovery was universal, and alternate 
hope and fear agitated tliem with emotion as tender and 
touching as though manifested by a loving mother at the 
bedside of her sick child. But the fiat of the most high 
had gone forth, and the prayers of united Christendom were 
unavailing to save the life of the illustrious sufferer. 

It does not become us to seek to penetrate the mys- 
teries of the infinite, or to be wise above what is written. 
With resignation to His will who holds in His hand the des- 
tinies of nations, we are permitted to extract some consola- 
tion from the event we so much deplore. It has had the 
efiect to bring together in the close bonds of a common 
grief, the North, the South, the East and the West, to 
soften and diminish sectional and party animosities; to 
quicken the national conscience; to waft us back to the faith 
of our fathers, and to make us realize more vividly that 
■" The Lord God omnipotent reigneth." 

While, therefore, we join in lamenting the loss the coun- 
try has sustained, deeply sympathizing with the aged 
mother, the devoted widow and the bereaved children in 
their affliction, let us take comfort in the reflection that the 
nation moves on to accomplish its general mission, un- 
checked and unimpeded even by the death of its best. 
God save the Kepublic ! 



Garfield's death and rrs lessons. 

By Rev. J. P. Bodfish, delivered in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston, 

Sept. 25, 1881. 

It is a solemn thing to stand at any time in the presence 
of death. The sight of marks of mourning upon the door, 
our entrance into the darkened chamber, and our meeting 
with the sorrowful, grief-stricken family, are all intended 
to chasten and subdue our hearts. 



244 PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO GEN. GARFIELD. 

These seasons of mourning should not go bj unheeded. 
Tliey should teach us that all things earthly are vanity, 
ending in death. To-day we are called upon to witness an 
extraordinary sight. It fs not alone one family we see in 
mourning, not alone one circle of relatives bowed down in 
grief, but truly and sincerely a nation weeps. How keenly 
we realize that we are all members of that one nation, of 
one body politic, and when its head is stricken low the 
whole body is affected. The great and noble man who so 
lately presided over its destinies is gone. Noble son of a 
worthy mother, fighting against povert}'', with a strong 
ambition to do orood deeds — when we think of the strugrsrle 
he made to educate himself, to prepare himself for public 
life, we recognize in him only the able, just man, who 
aimed at nothing but the Nation's good. 

After his labors, then, to fit himself for the highest gift 
in the Nation, we see him cut down by an assassin's hand, 
and a whole country agonized throughout its length and 
breadth. I should be wanting in my duty to-day, if I did 
not, as the occasion suggests, pay my tribute to this good 
man, and strive to derive from his sad death some of the 
arreat lessons which Providence teaches us. 

As Catholics and members of the Roman Church, not 
only do we join with our neighbors in the general grief, 
but we have a special horror at the act that has been com- 
mitted. We should remember that the Catholic Church 
has been, throughout the world and the world's history, the 
bulwark of civil order, and she has at all times urged upon 
her children to do their part in preserving civil law and 
civil government. Often have prelates and priests of our 
church been called upon to aid in the preservation of con- 
stitutional authority, and they have always responded, 
though it be at the peril of their lives. 

When we find socialism, communism or the spoils sye- 



PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO GEN. GARFIELD. 245 

tern culminating in the assassination of a good man, there 
is no heart so profoundly shocked as the Catholic heart. 

And there are many lessons to be drawn from the occur- 
rence. It shows us that we are one; that, in the presence 
of death we are all united; that partisan bitterness and 
even sectional strife is hushed beneath the sorrow of one 
common affliction. In the record of this man, wlio was so 
distinctively an American statesman, and so natural an 
outcome of our glorious American institutions, we are 
taught that good men and true are appreciated. 

What a lesson to young men, growing up under the fos- 
tering care of American civilization! Would you be be- 
loved by your fellow-citizens, and your death mourned by 
a nation? Then imitate the illustrious dead. Be a man, 
good and true and without reproach, and the end will sure- 
ly be a glorious one. " God reigns, and the government still 
lives," said Garfield. And the government does live, and 
may all honest and intelligent citizens of every creed and 
race and color join to-day in a renewed act of consecration 
to those institutions which have done so much to develop 
liberty and fraternity among us, 

MRS. GARFIELD. 

See her, like a ministering angel, by day and by night 
at his side, bearing up to the last with undaunted courage. 
See her, with a true, womanly reserve, shrinking from all 
publicity; and see her, alone by his bier, still hiding her 
sorrow, whose depth no man can fathom, no mind contem- 
plate, but God's. 

What a lesson to Catholic women ! What a lesson to every 
young woman, and to every wife and mother! Throughout 
the whole civilized world there is not a heart, however stern, 
but will do her the honor she so richly deserves. It is the 
lesson of the true wife and mother. These are the qualities 



246 PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO GEN. GARFIELD. 

the world honors; this is woman's sphere, indeed, and this the 
sacred duty she alone can fulfill. Ah, my dear friends, re- 
member, in the hour of your own affliction, the wife and 
mother who will sit by your side and smooth your pillow. 
Honor, and love and cherish her, for she is truly the anojel 
of your household through all your days. Let us, then, 
mourn over the Nation's dead, and pray with fervor, for 
we have, as our text tells us, " lost some great heart." Let 
us pray that the children of the dead President may grow 
up in usefulness and strength, following in the footsteps 
of their father, and bv tlie lie:ht of their jjood lives cheering 
and sustaining their heart-broken mother. Let us, too, 
not forget that aged, grief-stricken woman, who, parting 
with the cherished son of her bosom, sees her "darling 
boy" brought back to her a corpse. And, in all our 
prayers, in all our grief, let us take to heart the lessons of 
the calamity that has overtaken us, and so strive to conduct 
ourselves that the reward to come may be ours through 
eternity. 



A PUPiL'S TRIBUTE. 



' BY F. E. Udell, one of Gai-ficlcVs Students at Hiram College. 



Delivered at the Memorial Services in St. Louis, Sept. 26, 1881. 

For nearly thirty years I have had an intimate acquain- 
tance with Mr. Garfield. As a member of the same house- 
hold, as a fellow-student, as a pupil, in our church relations 
as a member of the same conij^rei^at ion, and later associated 
with him as trustees of Hiram College and a constituent 
and supporter is his congressional district, I have liad op- 
portunities, such as perhaps no otlier person present, of an 
intimate knowledge of his inner life, of his school days 
and his young manhood. 

I first went to Hi ram College, then the " Western Re- 
serve Eclectic Institute, " in 1853, and there first met James 
A, Garfield. He was at that time a student at this school, 
and also teaching a few classes to pay his way. I remem- 
ber him as a stout, hale, well developed young man of 
twenty-one, plainly clad, but of striking physique and 
bearing. He was a hard student, burning the midnight oil 
for six nights in the week, and by thus applying himself to 
his studies, he in three years' time crowded six years of 
study, and thus in this short space of time fitted himself to 
enter the junior class, besides at the same time teaching 

(247) 



248 A PUPIL'S TRIBUTE. 

for his support. To accomplish this he shut the whole 
world out from his mind, save that portion within the 
rant^e of his studies, knowinor little of the news of the day, 
reading no light literature, and engaging in no social re- 
creations that took his time from his books. 

As a student and as a scholar of great promise, he had 
no equals in that school, and in native ability and already 
acquired brilliancy he stood head and shoulders above his 
classmates, and was often spoken of in laudatory terms by 
all who knew him. But notwithstanding all, this — and he 
was certainly conscious of his attainments — he was never 
susceptible to flattery, never exhibited the least arrogance, 
but was as humble as when a boy he supported his wid- 
owed mother by the sweat of his brow, unconscious of the 
latent possibilities of that great head and heart. 

As a teacher he was unexcelled. How vividly can I now 
gee that manly form, with his large, well-developed head, 
standing on the platform before his class, chalk in hand, 
his pleasant luminous face, and clear silvery voice, explain- 
ino: and demonstrating the problem before him. He was 
par exoelleiice the best teacher I ever recited to, and he 
was loved by all his pupils. I might also speak of his 
forensic powers, at this early period of his life, in the liter- 
ary societv of the school, and also of his occasional addresses 
in the church, but time forbids ; suffice to say, he was then 
as in later life a fluent speaker and a devoted earnest 
Christian. 

It would have been a source of gratification to me to 
.have been at Cleveland to-day and to have dropped a tear 
on his casket, but it affords me a still greater satisfaction to 
be here in the quiet of this symjiathizing brotherhood to 
testify to his great wortli and his Christian manhood, and 
tlie love and adoration I bore him, and with you to weep 
over his grave. It is not so much for the dead President i 



A PUP IV S TRIBUTE 349 

mourn as the dead Garfield. Others eulogized him for his 
great statesmanship, his nobilit}' of character and his well- 
developed manhood. I loved and reverenced him most 
because he had a warm, loving heart, because of his nobility 
of soul, and because he was a true friend. Most men, when 
■elevated to high positions, grow away from the humble 
friends of their earlier days. Not so with Jas. A. Garfield. 

I shall never forget the hearty greeting with wiiich he 
always met an acquaintance in his school days, and to feel 
the grasp of tliat honest, sturdy hand impressed you that 
you had met one of God's noblemen. And all through the 
years since then, no matter what station he occupied, or how 
weighed down with the labors and responsibilities of his 
ofiice, this quality of the man has ever remained the same. 
Any son of toil who had known him in his earlier life could 
approach him without the. least embarrassment or trepi- 
dation, and would be met by that same warm, cordial greet- 
ing as in days of yore. In his presence you would forget he 
was the leader of his party in the house, that he was Senator 
or that he was President, and for the moment he would be 
to you your old, kind, big-hearted friend Garfield. 

I deem it the orreatest honor of mv life to have had his 
acquaintance and friendship, and to have been his pupil, 
and as to-day 1 see the whole world moved to affectionate 
tears over the death of this one man, as never in the history 
of civilization they were moved before, it is with a thrill of 
justifiable pride that I can say of my own personal knowl- 
edjre of the man, he was worthy of all these honors, and I 
thank God that such a man has lived and left the impress of 
this grand life upon this and all succeeding generations, and 
that it is my privilege, with the other fifty millions of our 
free America, besides the millions in other lands, to give 
expression to the sorrow I feel over the death of the Presi- 
dent—the statesman, the Christian — my friend. 



A WISE MAN. 



By Rev. Dr. Sprole. 



Delivered at the Memorial Service in the First Street Presbyterian Church, Detroit, 

Mich., Sept. 26. 1881. 

Among those present was Solomon Davis, who now resides at 700 Jefferson avenue 
When but seven years of age he, with his father in Vermont, attended the funeral servi- 
ces of George Washington, and, wherevef held, has attended those of every deceased 
President of the United States. This circumstance was mentioned by Dr. Pierson, 
and all eyes were turned to the pew where sat the venerable man whose personal 
recollection extend back into the eighteenth century. 

The inspired record tells ns that when Stephen fell by 
the ungodly, devout men carried hiiu to burial and made 
great lamentation over his mutihited form. We are en- 
gaged to-da}'' in these solemn services, while others, devout 
and undevout, are carrying to their last resting place the 
remains of our beloved President. He was cut off from 
his usefulness at a time when it was most desirable that he 
should live; at a time when desire for continued life was a 
righteous emotion. He had disappointed the hopes of his 
enemies and surprised his friends by the wisdom he dis- 
played in the high office. 

God directed us in the choice of our Chief Magistrate, 
and when his sun was shining in all its noon-tide glory, it 
was extinguished. Why is this? It is one of God's mys- 
teries, and He alone can unravel it. "What I do thou 
knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." It is no 

(250) 



A WISE MAN. 251 

wonder that the- people of our and other Christian lands 
mourn his taking off. But few equaled him in those ele- 
ments that make man the image of his Maker. His dis- 
tinguishing characteristic wa.^ his great loving heart. 
Though sorely tried, it never failed. 

The elevation of James A. Garfield to the Presidential 
chair did not change his character. As a teacher of a 
country school; President of a College; taking up arms in 
defense of his country; in the halls of Congress, in the 
Presidential chair; while haiiging upon the borders of the 
grave for weeks, he ever manifested the same gentle, loving 
spirit. How touching are the thoughtfull}'- worded tele- 
grams sent to his mother and wife, calming and soothing 
their fears. Such a man! Such a loss! I can't quite un- 
derstand it. Did I not know the wisdom and goodness of 
God, I might question its right; but I dare not do it. 

Why did GuG keep him hanging there so long on the 
brink of the grave ? It might be to prepare the Nation for 
the great loss it was to suffer. It might be to start the 
tears of the Nation from the mountains to the great waters, 
and cement more closely the brotherhood of States. It 
may have been to bring the hearts of trans-Atlantic nations 
closer to us. It has had its practical lesson, for it has dem- 
onstrated that our Nation does not hang upon the life of a 
single individual. 

The Rev. D. M. Cooper then read, and the choir sang 
the following dirge from the pen of D. Bethune Duttield : 

L 

ToU, 
Aye toU, ye mournful bells, 
A world-wide passing kneU 

Toll for a hero's soul. 

" n. 

Drape, 
And sadly drop the flag 



■252 . A WISE MAX. 

Half-mast o'er land and sea, 

And bind each door with crape. 

ni. 

Weep, 
Ye stricken people weep. 
Around the hallowed bier 

Of Garfield's silent sleep. 

IV. 

Great, 
Sublimely great and brave 
Was this our chosen chief. 

In battle or debate. 

V. 

Love, 
Whole-souled, deep love was his, 
For country, home and truth, 

Like to that love above. 

vr. 

Write 
Amid the stars and stripes- 
Write high his worthy name, 

'T wili make the stars more bright 

VII. 

Praise, 

Yes, praise the Lord on high. 
For all he was to us, 

While heavenward we gaze. 

VUI. 

Well, 
" He doeth all things well," 
For age to distant age 

His name and lame shall telL 

IX 

Fears, 
No, not one fear for him. 
Nor for our smitten land, 

Tho' flood- like fall our tears. 

X. 

Toll, 
Yes, toll, ye mournful bells, 
And roll, ye muthed drums. 
Farewell, oh, noble soul. 

Farewell. 



MEMORY. 



BY JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



This little poem, from the pen of the President, was 
written before his first term in Congress — hence some 
twenty years ago. At that time, possibly, the Presidency 
of a Christian college was the " summit where the sun- 
beams fell," but the last lines are all but a prophecy: 

Tis beauteous night; the stars look brightly down 
Upon the earth, decked in her robe of snow. 
No light gleams at the window, save my own, 
Which gives its cheer to midnight and to me. 
And now, with noiseless step, sweet memory conies, 
And leads me gently through her twilight realms. 
What poet's tuneful lyre has ever sung. 
Or delicate pen e'er portrayed, i 

The enchanted, shadowy land where memory dwells? 
It has its valleys, cheerless, lone and drear. 
Dark-shaded by the mournful cypress tree; 
And yet its sunlit mountain tops are bathed 
In heaven's own blue. Upon its ciaggy cliffs, 
Robed in the dreamy light of distant years. 
Are clustered joys serene of other days; 
Upon its gentle, sloping hillsides bend 
The weeping willows o'er the sacred dust 
Of dear departed ones; and yet in that land. 
Where'er our footsteps fall upon the shore, 
They that were Bleeping rise from out the dust 

(253) 



254 MEMORY. 

Of death's long, silent years, and round us standi 

As erst they did before the prison tomb 

Received their clay within its voiceless halls. 

The heavens that bend above that hind are hung 

With clouds of various hues. Some dark and chill, 

Surcharged with sorrow, cast with somber shade 

Upon the sunny, joyous land below. 

Others are floating through the dreamy air, 

White as the falling snow, their margins tinged 

With gold and crimsoned hues; their shadows fall 

Upon the flowery meads and sunny slopes, 

Soft as the shadow of an angel's wing. 

When the rough battle of the day is done, 

And evening's peace falls gently on the heart, 

I bound away, across the noisy years. 

Unto the utmost verge of memory's land, 

Where earth and sky in dreamy distance meet, 

And memory, dim with dark oblivion, joins, 

Where woke the first remembered somids that fell 

Upon the ear in childhood's early morn; 

And, wandering thence along the rolling years, 

I see the shadow of my former self, 

Gliding from childhood up to man's estate. 

The path of youth winds down through many a rale 

And on the brink of many a dread abyss, 

From out whose darkness comes no ray of light. 

Save that a phantom dances o'er the gulf 

And beckons toward the verge. Again the path 

Leads o'er the summit where the sunbeams fall; 

And thus in light and shade, sunshine find gloom. 

Sorrow and joy, the life-path leads along. 



THE END. 



1 



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228 pages, paper cover. 

THE WORLD'S EULOGIES ON PRESIDENT GARFIELD; 

(S vo. 2r)(j pages, pai)er cover. '^ 

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